Nurses Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals: The United Nations and Sigma.

This article is one in a series in which contributing authors discuss how the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are linked to everyday clinical issues; national public health emergencies; and other nursing issues, such as leadership, shared governance, and advocacy. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, a 15-year plan of action to achieve the goals, was unanimously adopted by all UN member states in September 2015 and took effect on January 1, 2016. The Agenda consists of 17 SDGs addressing social, economic, and environmental determinants of health and 169 associated targets focused on five themes: people, planet, peace, prosperity, and partnership. The SDGs build on the work of the UN Millennium Development Goals, which were in effect from 2000 to 2015. The current article highlights SDGs 5 (gender equality), 8 (decent work and economic growth), and 17 (partnerships for the goals), along with the advocacy of these goals by Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing in the UN system.

The Relationship Between Past Experience, Empathy, and Attitudes Toward Poverty.

BACKGROUND: Nursing educators commonly place service-learning and simulation experiences in prelicensure public health nursing courses. These experiences have varying degrees of success in targeting gaps in students' knowledge and attitudes regarding vulnerable populations. This study sought to identify factors that are associated with attitudes toward poverty and empathy scores of senior-level prelicensure nursing students to improve pedagogy in public health nursing courses. METHOD: A cross-sectional comparison of senior-level nursing students from traditional and accelerated cohorts at a college of nursing was conducted. RESULTS: Students with prior volunteer experience reported lower empathy scores compared with students who did not have prior volunteer experience (t[102] = -1.9, p < .05). CONCLUSION: Nursing educators should engage students in identifying and evaluating their personal background related to poverty when beginning a public health nursing course to address bias and create shared knowledge. [J Nurs Educ. 2020;59(3):158-162.].

The Culturally Diverse Nursing Student: A Review of the Literature.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this article is to discuss the facilitators and barriers to the retention and graduation of the culturally diverse nursing student using the social ecological model (SEM). DESIGN: Literature review. METHOD: A review of the literature was conducted and the SEM was used to evaluate the facilitators and barriers to the success of culturally diverse nursing students. FINDINGS: The SEM is an appropriate means to evaluate the facilitators and barriers to the retention and success of the culturally diverse nursing student. Researchers link health disparities in marginalized populations with diversity of the health care workforce. Consequently, the SEM provides a multidimensional view of the problem of focus, while providing a guide for the development for sustainable solutions to address the issues. Additional research is necessary using a social determinant of health model such as the SEM to facilitate dialogue and change in current retention strategies.