An Educational Program for Nurses to Improve Culturally-Appropriate Mental Health Assessment for Nigerian Immigrant Youth in Central Florida

AbstractNigerians, like other immigrants, face many health issues with rising waves of conflict and political instability that contribute to high migration rates. As a result, when they arrive in other countries, these immigrants not only have to deal with the trauma they left behind but face issues such as cultural stereotypes, stigma, lack of insurance, cultural and language barriers, poor communication, social discrimination, and low socioeconomic status. The question that this project addressed was whether an educational program for nurses would improve knowledge on culturally-appropriate mental health assessment for Nigerian immigrant youth in Central Florida. This was a nursing staff education project on the need for a culturally-appropriate mental health assessment. The theory of constructivism framed the study. Pre-test, post-tests, handout, PowerPoint, and role play were used to gauge the knowledge of the learners. The sources of evidence used to create the education materials were from journal articles, research reports, MEDLINE, Cochran, CINAHL, EMBASE, and the Joanna Briggs Institute EBP Database. Descriptive statistics, including percentages, frequencies, and mean were used to analyze the results. Data from the pre-test/post-test (N = 22) showed that 41.2% of the participants “completely agreed” with the statements vs. 98.7% for the post-test. This showed a 41.7% increase in the knowledge gained. Findings that supported the nursing staff education improvement in knowledge of culturally-appropriate mental health assessment has potential to bring about a positive social change by bridging the gap in the nursing practice to promote mental health and well-being and reduce the barriers concerning Nigerian immigrant health by increasing cultural awareness