HISTORY

Upstate AHEC was awarded a three-year Nurse Education, Practice and Retention Program Grant from the United States Department of Health and Human Services to increase the cultural competencies of South Carolina nurses with a primary focus on the delivery of quality healthcare to the state's increasingly Hispanic population.

The grant was written in response to the dramatic increases seen in the last decade in SC's Hispanic population. Because research indicates that Hispanics, along with other racial minorities, tend to receive a lower quality of healthcare than non-minorities, evidenced by increased complications and death from certain diseases, these increases present challenges to our state's healthcare systems. Fortunately, studies also indicate that racial and ethnic health disparities can be substantially reduced by creating an appropriately trained, culturally competent healthcare workforce.

Consequently, the goal of the SC Cross Cultural Healthcare Project is to motivate, equip, and assist a key cadre of nurses to make changes in themselves, their co-workers, and the systems in which they practice -- changes that promote cultural competence.

The first of seven regional Cross Cultural Healthcare Institutes was held in Clemson at the Ramada Inn on October 23rd through the 26th, 2007. This institute was designed to increase the knowledge and skills of participant nurses in the areas of Hispanic/Latino culture, healthcare needs, and disparities. Participants were required to take the knowledge they gained and make an impact on improving care at their facilities. Trained coaches provided  participants with post-Institute mentoring and support as they planned and implemented an evidence based research project around culturally competent care.

On April 25, 2007, the first year of the grant concluded with a one-day statewide Cross Cultural Conference in Columbia. At this conference the Institute participants had the opportunity to present their research project either in a poster session or to the group as a whole. They also had the opportunity to write an article that was published in the conference monograph about their project, personal learning or impressions of the process of leading a research initiative.

By increasing the cultural competencies and promoting the research and change agent skills of nurses currently practicing in SC healthcare provider organizations, the Cross Cultural Healthcare Project expects to shape values and behaviors throughout the state's healthcare system, ultimately improving delivery and quality of healthcare services to our Hispanic population.