University of Iowa College of Nursing Increases Diversity and Cultural Competency

The University of Iowa (UI) College of Nursing has recently redirected its focus toward diversity and cultural competency through the development of its seven pillars of diversity, which were created by the college’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee.

Having an understanding of cultural competency and diversity has become increasingly important in the nursing profession, leading UI’s College of Nursing to implement new initiatives to ensure that its nursing graduates have the skills to use cultural competency and diversity to strengthen relationships in the workplace, promote better understanding across cultures, and be accountable for raising awareness and overcoming biases.

Valerie Garr, co-chair of the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee, tells DailyIowan.com, “We wanted to ask our faculty and staff what they understood diversity to be, how they feel that they integrate diversity into whatever work they do, what are some of their concerns or worries about their ability to integrate diversity into the work that they do. The word diversity can be kind of scary for people. It can elicit both positive but also some negative emotions from people. And a lot of that has to do with things happening in our larger society, but also individual experiences.”

The seven pillars comprise awareness, integrity, caring, respect, learning, collaboration, and cultural humanity. The graphic on the College of Nursing’s diversity page explains the seven pillars using the colors of the rainbow to represent LGBTQ and inclusiveness. The school also has a database called Culture Vision which allows students to learn about varying groups of people from different cultural backgrounds and how to individualize care in order to fit specific needs.