Preparing a Culturally Competent Nursing Workforce

Despite numerous efforts to create a culturally competent nursing workforce, there continues to be a sense of urgency to prepare nurses who can meet the healthcare needs of diverse populations. This study responds to that urgency by uncovering care practices that support faculty as they prepare culturally competent students within baccalaureate and graduate nursing programs in public and private universities serving rural and urban areas throughout the United States. These generic and professional care practices are grouped into four themes to give nursing educators and administrators specific, evidenced-based recommendations they can use to initiate or extend school of nursing efforts to produce a culturally competent nursing workforce. The findings also demonstrate the value of extending the Culture Care Theory and ethnonursing research method beyond clinical environments and into the nursing education setting.