Cultural competence pre-requisites for foreign pediatric nurses serving in Africa

Joint Event on 29^th International Conference on Pediatric Nursing & Healthcare & 31^st World Congress on Advanced Nursing Practice

August 16-17, 2018 | Madrid, Spain

Linda Govere

Pennsylvania State University, USA

Posters & Accepted Abstracts: Adv Practice Nurs

Abstract :

Africa with its 54 individual countries, over 7,000 major tribes and 1,500 spoken languages, has unique inter-and intracultures. The genetic and inter- and intra-cultural diversity among its inhabitants is greater than the rest of the world. It is imperative that the pediatric nurses who choose or volunteer to provide healthcare services in Africa be inter- and intraculturally competent. Inter- and intra-cultural competences are abilities in knowledge, attitudes, skills and aspirations to provide culturally competent care to clients with inter- and intra-cultural differences. The inter- and intra-cultural competence of a pediatric nurse is demonstrated through positive shifts in his/her inter-and intra-cultural knowledge, attitudes, skills, and aspirations (inter- and intra-KASA) to meet the diverse nursing care needs of the African pediatric clients. Such shifts would come about through pediatric nurse professional education that is specifically designed to meet the complex challenges in providing inter- and intra- culturally competent nursing care to the African pediatric clients. The effectiveness of the professional education on positive inter- and intra-KASA shifts is indicated by inter-and intra- ethnic, racial, tribal, and linguistic competence levels of the pediatric nurses. However, one of the challenges is how to assess the inter- and intra-KASA shifts and the resultant inter-and intra-cultural competence levels of the pediatric nurses. Current methods are most suited for cross-cultural and multicultural competence or merely cultural competence. There is need to develop cultural assessment tools that are capable of measuring inter- and intra-cultural competence and examine educational policies, procedures, and curriculum design with the ultimate goal of graduating inter- and intra-culturally competent pediatric nurses. The purpose of this presentation is to present the inter- and intra-professional approaches that will bring about positive inter-and intra-KASA changes to enable pediatric nurses to provide inter-and intra-culturally competent care to the African pediatric clients.

Biography :