How diversity impacts educational efforts and programs within the area of academia - Research Paper Example

How diversity impacts educational efforts and programs within the area of academia in nursing? Inclusion of diversity in the academic curriculum is apotential way of preparing the professionals for the challenges lying ahead in the contemporary age. As the society has become increasingly multicultural over the decades, it has imparted a need for the professionals to be able to understand the individualistic needs, norms and values of people belonging to different cultures so that they can be entertained.

Diversity has a significant impact on the educational efforts and programs particularly in the area of nursing given a nurse has to interact with people coming from different backgrounds on a daily basis. A nurse is essentially a social person, or he/she might not be able to do justice to the job. Social skills required on the part of a nurse include but are not limited to emotional intelligence, communication skills, and management. In-depth knowledge of diverse cultures enables a nurse to optimize on his/her potential to display these skills in the workplace.

Inclusion of diversity in the academic curriculum of nursing acquaints a nurse with the knowledge of the best possible way to deal with a patient coming from a certain background. Diversification of the nursing education is also a need of the hour in that the nursing students have become increasingly non-traditional over the years. Non-traditional means “aged 25 or older, commutes to school, enrolled part time, is male, is a member of an ethnic or racial minority group, speaks English as a second or additional language, has dependent children, and holds a general equivalency diploma (GED) or has required remedial classes” (Bednarz, Schim, and Doorenbos, 2010).

According to the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN), there were about 73 per cent non-traditional nursing students in the undergraduate program as of 2005.References:Bednarz, H., Schim, S., and Doorenbos, A. (2010). Cultural Diversity in Nursing Education: Perils, Pitfalls, and Pearls. Journal of Nursing Education. 49(5): 253-260.