Teaching students from diverse disadvantaged backgrounds can be a challenge for faculty especially for those who may have preconceived ideas about these students’ abilities to be successful in a nursing program. A pilot study was conducted at a southeastern university with a group of international students with English as a second language in a baccalaureate nursing program and the findings showed that these students experienced social isolation, yet were persistent despite perceived obstacles. Faculty members who were most successful with these students were those who incorporated cultural sensitivity when working with these students. The pilot study was the impetus to initiate a series of seminars related to cultural competence. This presentation will focus on the program entitled Cultural Competence for the New Millennium, a series of seminars and the apparent increase in the cultural competence of the faculty. Also, plans for mentoring current students with disadvantaged backgrounds will be presented. Nursing faculty who have an increased sense of cultural competence are best positioned to mentor disadvantaged nursing students and better facilitate their learning and assist them in being better prepared for success on the NCLEX exam, which in turn, will increase the nursing workforce diversity.
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