Learning activities to foster diversity, equity, and inclusion: an integrative review

Abstract

Objective

Describe learning activities used within nursing curricula to foster awareness of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in nursing care and support undergraduate nursing students’ professional identity in this area.

Design: An integrative review was conducted to provide a comprehensive overview of published DEI learning activities.

Data sources

The Cumulative Index of Nursing and Allied Health Literature and PubMed databases were utilized to search for articles published between 2016 and 2023.

Review methods

A structured methodology guided this review. Evidence appraisal was conducted using The Johns Hopkins Evidence-Based Practice Model for Nursing and Healthcare Professionals.

Results

Nineteen articles were identified; 16 descriptive, nonresearch reports and 3 empirical studies. Quality was limited by small sample sizes, instrument reliability and lack of formal evaluation methods. A variety of innovative approaches to facilitate DEI competencies and recommendations for implementation are described.

Conclusions

Nurse educators recognize DEI as an essential competency within undergraduate nursing curricula. Although many relevant learning activities exist to build DEI competencies, ongoing research is needed to evaluate their impact on student and patient outcomes.