Developing Cultural Competency in Life and Simulation: A Year in Qatar as an Exemplar

Abstract 

Globalization is creating rich opportunities for nurse educators to interact in teaching and learning environments with people from all over the world. When the author accepted a job in the Middle East for the University of Calgary, Qatar, as clinical assessment and simulation manager, she fully expected an amazing experience. What ensued was profound lesson in valuing the importance of culture and cultural competence in education and, in simulation learning and in life. Adaptations in the delivery of simulation learning experiences in the nursing curriculum at the University of Calgary, Qatar, are highlighted in this non–research-based, personal account by an experienced simulation educator. The most salient cultural learning experiences are described.

KeyWords: cultural competence, culture, Middle East, nursing education, simulation