| The ethnic minority population in the United States has increased, and will continue to rise until the White ethnicity is no longer considered the majority. In conjunction with the increased diversity in the country, the diversity within the patient population of the health care system may increase in diversity. This diversity can lead to the lack of individualized nursing care and subconscious stereotyping of ethnic minority patients. A quantitative, quasi-experimental approach was used to discover if subconscious cultural stereotyping affected nursing assessments completed by undergraduate nursing students. The study also detected if cultural stereotyping by undergraduate nursing students was in any way related to the moderating variables of cognitive load of the nursing student, the patients' health status, and/or the ethnicity of the participant. Each participant (N = 480) was given a clinical vignette with varying degrees of cognitive load, varying patient acuity levels, and one patient as identified by a photo with one of four ethnic backgrounds (African America, Asian, White, and Hispanic). McDonald's Nursing Intervention Tool was used to collect data on the estimated number of minutes that were required for participants to complete patient teaching, provide emotional support, and provide physiological nursing care. Combined with a demographic questionnaire which the participants self-reported their ethnicity, gender, age, level in nursing school, health care experience, and geographic location. Study findings suggested there was no statically significant relationship between the patient ethnicity and subconscious stereotyping by undergraduate nursing students when completing patient teaching, providing emotional support, and/or providing physiological nursing care. Additionally, there was no statistically significant relationship between the moderating variables and providing emotional support to the patient. In the study, there was a statistically significant relationship found between the moderating variables and patient teaching as well as physiological nursing care. The research findings can raise awareness of the phenomenon of subconscious cultural stereotyping in undergraduate nursing students. Nursing education can enhance the body of knowledge related to subconscious cultural stereotyping of undergraduate nursing students, which may lead to enhanced cultural stereotyping education and enhanced cultural competence in the field of nursing. |
