Does service-learning increase cultural competency, critical thinking, and civic engagement?
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).
Nokes
Kathleen M
KM
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
Nickitas
Donna M
DM
Keida
Robin
R
Neville
Susan
S
D000328:Adult; D003159:Community-Institutional Relations; D018864:Cultural Diversity; D004506:Education, Nursing / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010865:Pilot Projects; D012941:Social Responsibility; D013850:Thinking; D014481:United States