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American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) Position Statement on Diversity, Inclusion and Equity in Academic Nursing

This position statement aims to improve the quality of education, address pervasive inequities in health care, and enhance the civic readiness and engagement potential of nursing students.


National League for Nursing Diversity and Inclusion Toolkit

This toolkit is designed to assist nursing programs to embed diversity, inclusion, and equity as a core value in every aspect of the nursing program.


The Culturally Relevant Nursing Education Resource Guide

The Culturally Relevant Nursing Resource Guide is a compilation of resources for nurse educators about the topic of Culturally Relevant Nursing Education.This guide includes resources about Culturally Relevant Teaching in Nursing Education for nurse educators to use. 


US Department of Health and Human Services

Culturally Competent Nursing Care: A Cornerstone of Caring is an excellent learning module on giving culturally competent nursing care. Free CEU’s are available for completion.

Cultural Competency Curriculum for Disaster Preparedness and Crisis Response. Free CEU’s provided.


Success in Nursing Program (SINP) Curriculum

The following curriculum was developed by Kathleen McCullough-Zander, who recognized the struggles that faced many of her foreign-born nursing students. Kathleen worked tirelessly to support their educational goals.

Kathleen developed a “Success in Nursing Program” (SINP) curriculum modeled after Century College’s “Courage to Succeed” (CTS) program. Kathleen was to use the SINP as partial fulfillment of her DNP degree at St. Catherine’s University. Ms. McCullough-Zander passed away before she could implement the program at Minneapolis Community and Technical College where she was a faculty member.

The SINP curriculum is the result of her efforts to help her foreign born students to succeed in nursing school. Kathleen arranged her program with an orientation day at the beginning of the semester followed by one hour weekly sessions for sixteen weeks each focusing on a different topic which aimed at strengthening skills needed to succeed in nursing school.

For example:

  • Learning effective study methods
  • Improving your performance on multiple choice tests
  • Reducing test anxiety
  • Improving your clinical judgment in patient care
  • Learning how European American culture impacts the nursing profession
  • Understanding active learning methods used in nursing education

Please feel free to use this curriculum to assist in helping your foreign born nursing students to succeed in your nursing program. This is what Kathleen would have wanted.

Legislative Testimony of David Zander

David Zander, in honor and memory of his wife, successfully worked with legislators to secure funding to implement retention programs for foreign born nursing students in 2015. The colleges receiving the funding included Minneapolis Community and Technical College, Century College, Hibbing Community College and Pine Technical and Community College.

The following curriculum was developed by Kathleen McCullough-Zander and is available for use in your nursing program.

Curriculum Book

The Success in Nursing Program Curriculum Book is an overview of the program.

PowerPoints for Specific Units

Unit 1-3: Success in Nursing Program Overview
Unit 3: Time Management
Unit 4: Active Learning & Self-Advocacy
Unit 5: Understanding Multiple- Choice Questions
Unit 8: How to improve English Language Skills
Unit 9: Self-Care and Reducing Test Anxiety
Unit 10: Communication in the Clinical Setting
Unit 11: Clinical Judgment
Unit 13: The Basics of Writing Assignments in Nursing
Unit 15: Incivility, Prejudice, & Racism

Unit Activity Plans (Word Documents)

Unit 1-3: Immersion Day
Unit 4: Active Learning & Self-Advocacy
Unit 5: Understanding Multiple Choice Questions
Unit 6: Personal Learning Style
Unit 7: Relationship and Communication with Nursing Instructors
Unit 8: How to Improve English Language Skills
Unit 9: Self-Care and Reducing Test Anxiety
Unit 10: Communication in the Clinical Setting
Unit 11: Clinical Judgment
Unit 12: Nursing Program Policies
Unit 13: The Basics of Writing Assignments in Nursing
Unit 14: The Role of Women in Positions of Power in Nursing
Unit 15: Incivility, Prejudice, & Racism