Abstract
Purpose: Fostering diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB) within global nursing education is imperative to prepare future healthcare professionals to meet the needs of diverse patient populations and is supported by most major nursing organizations (American Nurses Association, 2024; ANA Ethics Advisory Board, 2019; IOM, 2011; Future of Nursing, 2020-2030). This study used the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI) to measure the impact of DEIB focused curriculum on a cohort of students’ intercultural competence change over 4 years.
Methods: A Midwest Big10 School of Nursing systematically embedded DEIB principles into each level of the undergraduate curriculum and the school’s culture. Simultaneously, the validated and reliable IDI was administered as part of a freshman and a senior year course (IDI, 2016). The IDI assesses participants perceived orientation (PO) and developmental orientation (DO). The pre-assessment was completed in the fall of 2018 and the post-assessment was completed in the spring of 2022.
Results: N = 108 students. The PO increased by half a category (7.6 points; p <0.0001) and DO by a full category (16.9 points; p<0.0001) from freshman to senior year. Within individuals, 45% of students improved one category for PO while 44% improved one category and 16% improved two or more categories for DO. Only two students regressed across categories and only for DO.
Implications: These initial findings suggest a positive impact of the curriculum changes, but further research is needed. One might assume that PO and DO naturally increase with age, maturity, and academic growth such that the addition of a control cohort, perhaps from another program would more precisely estimate the impact of the curriculum. Replication of the study accounting for participant’s background, religious or political affiliation, or other variables correlated with PO and DO is needed. COVID-19 occurred mid-study, which may have impacted the results as many students worked in the hospital during the pandemic, exposing them to some polarizing views. It is also possible that current societal events and beliefs may have affected the degree to which the participants were interested in the study, willing to participate, and engaged in the curricular content.
Notes
References: American Nurses Association (July, 2024). The Imperative Need for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB) in Nursing. Retrieved from: https://www.nursingworld.org/news/news-releases/2024/the-imperative-need-for-diversity-equity-inclusion-and-belonging-deib-in-nursing/
ANA Ethics Advisory Board, (June 7, 2019). ANA Position Statement: The Nurse’s Role in Addressing Discrimination: Protecting and Promoting Inclusive Strategies In Practice Settings, Policy, and Advocacy. Online Journal of Issues in Nursing, 24:3. https://doi.org/10.3912/OJIN.Vol24No03PoSCol01
Institute of Medicine, 2011. The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health. http://www.nationalacademies.org/hmd/~/media/Files/Report%20Files/2010/ The-Future-of-Nursing/Future%20of%20Nursing%202010%20Report%20Brief. Pdf
Intercultural Development Inventory (2016). IDI Validation ACS Independent Review (Phase 3). Retrieved from: https://www.idiinventory.com/validation
Kirby, K., Earle, M., Calahan, C. & Karagory, P. (2021, August). Preparing Nursing Students for Diverse Populations. Nurse Education in Practice. Volume 55. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nepr.2021.103140
The Future of Nursing 2020-2030 (2021) Charting a path to achieve health equity. National Academies Press. Washington, DC Retrieved from: https://nap.nationalacademies.org/read/25982/chapter/1
Sigma Membership
Eta Gamma
Type
Poster
Format Type
Text-based Document
Study Design/Type
Other
Research Approach
Other
Keywords:
DEI/BIPOC, Competence, Curriculum Development
Recommended Citation
Kirby, Kristen F.; Johnson, Rebecca; and Hass, Zachary, "Longitudinal Assessment of DEIB in Nursing Curriculum Using the IDI" (2025). International Nursing Research Congress (INRC). 5.
https://www.sigmarepository.org/inrc/2025/posters_2025/5
Conference Name
36th International Nursing Research Congress
Conference Host
Sigma Theta Tau International
Conference Location
Seattle, Washington, USA
Conference Year
2025
Rights Holder
All rights reserved by the author(s) and/or publisher(s) listed in this item record unless relinquished in whole or part by a rights notation or a Creative Commons License present in this item record.
Review Type
Abstract Review Only: Reviewed by Event Host
Acquisition
Proxy-submission
Longitudinal Assessment of DEIB in Nursing Curriculum Using the IDI
Seattle, Washington, USA
Purpose: Fostering diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB) within global nursing education is imperative to prepare future healthcare professionals to meet the needs of diverse patient populations and is supported by most major nursing organizations (American Nurses Association, 2024; ANA Ethics Advisory Board, 2019; IOM, 2011; Future of Nursing, 2020-2030). This study used the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI) to measure the impact of DEIB focused curriculum on a cohort of students’ intercultural competence change over 4 years.
Methods: A Midwest Big10 School of Nursing systematically embedded DEIB principles into each level of the undergraduate curriculum and the school’s culture. Simultaneously, the validated and reliable IDI was administered as part of a freshman and a senior year course (IDI, 2016). The IDI assesses participants perceived orientation (PO) and developmental orientation (DO). The pre-assessment was completed in the fall of 2018 and the post-assessment was completed in the spring of 2022.
Results: N = 108 students. The PO increased by half a category (7.6 points; p <0.0001) and DO by a full category (16.9 points; p<0.0001) from freshman to senior year. Within individuals, 45% of students improved one category for PO while 44% improved one category and 16% improved two or more categories for DO. Only two students regressed across categories and only for DO.
Implications: These initial findings suggest a positive impact of the curriculum changes, but further research is needed. One might assume that PO and DO naturally increase with age, maturity, and academic growth such that the addition of a control cohort, perhaps from another program would more precisely estimate the impact of the curriculum. Replication of the study accounting for participant’s background, religious or political affiliation, or other variables correlated with PO and DO is needed. COVID-19 occurred mid-study, which may have impacted the results as many students worked in the hospital during the pandemic, exposing them to some polarizing views. It is also possible that current societal events and beliefs may have affected the degree to which the participants were interested in the study, willing to participate, and engaged in the curricular content.
Description
This work builds upon previous course-specific assessment and evaluation but is the first longitudinal study to date that assesses DEIB for an undergraduate program of nursing using the IDI which shows a full category of improvement over a four-year period (Kirby et. al., 2021).