E-learning course in intercultural geriatric nursing

Europe is undergoing a demographic shift as the populations are moving more than ever nowadays and it is predicted that older adult population will considerably increase in the near future. Those social, demographic and cultural phenomenons are making a high impact on the nations’ health organizations and therefore health professions education and competencies should be adapted within the European context. Providing learners with the opportunity to engage and care for patients, not only from the clinical perspective but also from the social and cultural one, by considering their cultural background understood as: diverse ethnic heritages, gender roles, cultural characteristics, values, traditions, practices, lifestyles and religious beliefs is crucial to preparing them for the realities of their professional careers especially within the European Union where mobility of students and professionals is promoted.

On the other hand, High Fidelity Healthcare Simulation is an effective educational tool in nursing education that allows students from different countries and cultures to master the principles of both Nursing Care and skills; and Culturally Competent Care. This type of simulation allows the learners’ contact with other cultural realities even when mobility is not either recommended or forbidden and may contribute to overcome future potential mobility restrictions and lock-downs such as the ones recently experienced due to Covid Pandemic or political conflicts.

In line with this, we present numerous high fidelity simulation scenarios which could benefit Geriatric Nursing Care Simulation programs by including additionally such diversity-based training in their permanent curriculums throughout replicating real-world scenarios from different cultures in a controlled and nonthreatening environment due to the high-fidelity perspective.

The GNurseSim Project Partnership major assumption is that by using Healthcare Simulation to educate and train for cultural competence, the research evidence is overwhelmingly clear as the potential exists for the use of high-fidelity patient simulation as an effective teaching strategy for cultural competency training.

With this framework, Nursing students are challenged to provide culture-specific care for current situations experienced by older adult population in terms of healthcare representing diversity in ethnicity, language, socioeconomic status, religion, gender, sexual orientation, immigration history, and lifestyle and frequently lack confidence (self-efficacy) in their knowledge, skills, and abilities; as well as recognizing the similarities and differences among cultural backgrounds.