Research: Service-Learning and Cultural Competency

Posted by on March 25, 2005

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Nokes KM, Nickitas DM, Keida R, Neville S. J Nurs Educ. 2005 Feb;44(2):65-70. Does service-learning increase cultural competency, critical thinking, and
civic engagement?

Hunter College, City University of New York, Hunter-Bellevue School of Nursing,
425 East 25 Street, Box 874, New York, NY 10010, USA. knokes@hunter.cuny.edu

To prepare for community engagement and partnerships with diverse communities, nursing students must understand the principles of service-learning, as well as the essential skills needed to work within a democracy. The purposes of these two pilot tests were to develop a 15-hour service-learning intervention; refine the 15-hour service-learning intervention; and explore whether participation in the intervention made a difference in the critical thinking, cultural competence, and civic engagement of nursing student participants. Although the sample was small (n = 14), results of paired t tests found that, after the intervention, critical thinking scores measured by the California Critical Thinking Disposition Inventory were significantly lower (t = -2.23, p = .04), particularly on the self-confidence subscale (t = 2.29, p = .039); cultural competence scores measured by the Inventory for Assessing the Process of Cultural Competence Among Healthcare Professionals were significantly lower (t = 4.83, p = .000); and civic engagement scores significantly increased (t =
-3.54, p = .004).