CSI offers Nursing Certificate in Cultural Competence, first in the
nation
May 6, 2008
In an effort to address the critical need for cultural competence in
the health care profession, the College of Staten Island’s
Department of Nursing will launch a new Advanced Certificate in
Cultural Competence program this fall, the first certificate program
of its kind in the nation.
The program is the brainchild of Marianne Jeffreys, Professor of
Nursing at CSI, who points out the importance of being culturally
competent in the health care field. “We have an increasingly diverse
population. With increased globalization and immigration throughout
the world, people are moving more rapidly and cultures are changing.
Nurses and health care professionals are also becoming much more
diverse, so we really need to do this to enhance health care
outcomes.”
“I applaud and fully endorse CSI's Advanced Certificate in Cultural
Competence. This program has it all: culturally-specific action
plans across diverse practice settings for educators, practitioners,
managers, and researchers,” said Larry Purnell, a nursing professor
with the University of Delaware. “Graduates of [CSI’s] program will
have readily available knowledge and skill that will enhance their
cultural competence as well as the skills necessary to conduct
culturally competent education and research and work more
effectively with culturally diverse staff.”
The Website www.culturediversity.org notes that to be “culturally
competent the nurse needs to understand his/her own world views and
those of the patient, while avoiding stereotyping and misapplication
of scientific knowledge. Cultural competence is obtaining cultural
information and then applying that knowledge.”
Jeffreys adds that cultural competence is also valuable as health
care professionals relate to one another, as well as with their
patients.
The program is open to graduate and post-graduate nursing students.
For more information, visit
www.csi.cuny.edu/nursing
or call the Nursing department at 718.982.3823.
