Implementing diversity, equity, and inclusion modules into a nursing trends and issues course: A quality improvement project

Background: The American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) supports integrating diversity, equity, and inclusivity (DEI) into nursing curricula to aid in preparing students to administer competent care for diverse patient populations. AACN highlights equitable healthcare as the overarching goal and catalyst for improving patient health, reducing health disparities, and addressing social determinants of health.

Aim: The aim is to plan, implement, and evaluate diversity, equity, and inclusion modules in a nursing trends and issues course.

Design: The design is a quality improvement project using the PDSA cycle as a framework.

Results: Students strongly agree that incorporating DEI modules into the course promotes learning. Nursing faculty acknowledge that more revisions are needed to the course modules to address and compare learning gaps in DEI between nursing cohorts for next semester.

Conclusion: Incorporating DEI in nursing curricula may demand the application of strategies and structure for students learning. With a lack of faculty experience on DEI topics, this process may require effective interventions to address the learning needs of students.