Using a virtual community to enhance cultural awareness.

PURPOSE

Cultural competence is an expectation of professional practice, yet effectively teaching this concept to nursing students is challenging. The purpose of this study was to assess the use of a virtual community as a teaching application to foster cultural awareness among nursing students.

METHOD

This correlational study involved the collection of two surveys from 342 first-semester students from five baccalaureate nursing programs that used The Neighborhood virtual community during one semester. Descriptive and comparative analyses were performed.

FINDINGS

Results suggest that use of the virtual community may have contributed to cultural awareness among student participants. There was a significant correlation between frequency of use and cultural awareness. Virtual communities may represent a useful teaching application for cultural competence in nursing education. Further research is needed to specifically test cultural competence education strategies using a virtual community platform.