On April 1, 2021, NRS 449 became law, which established new standards for anti-discrimination in health care in the state of Nevada, requiring implementation, completion, and maintenance of annual cultural competency training for medical facilities, facilities for the dependent, and other facilities. High Sierra Area Health Education Center (AHEC) and Nevada Primary Care Association (NVPCA) worked together to create a comprehensive training for Nevada providers to meet the new standards.
Through that partnership, the Nevada Cultural Competency Training was created – a course approved by the Department of Health and Human Services and provided to medical facility provider(s) within 30 days of their hire or start of contract to satisfy the requirements of NRS 449. The Nevada Cultural Competency Training focuses on improving cultural awareness, inclusivity, and quality care delivery through interactive and comprehensive content. A wide variety of topics will be covered through the nine-hour course, including: explicit and implicit bias, indirect discrimination, race and ethnicity, religion and spirituality, gender bias, gender identity, microaggressions, and cultural humility.
Nevada Cultural Competency will feature peer-to-peer discussion, video presentations, and interactive components focused on the importance of cultural competency to care provision. Registration for the course is now available.
This course has been planned and implemented in accordance with the Essential Areas and Policies of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education through the joint providership of the University of Nevada, Reno School of Medicine and Nevada Primary Care Association. The University of Nevada, Reno School of Medicine is accredited by the ACCME to provide continuing medical education to physicians.
Course Objectives
AHEC and NVPCA hope that by the end of the course, participants will be able to:
1. Deploy best practice approaches towards providing quality care for all groups to ensure that all individuals have access to culturally and linguistically appropriate care
2. Mitigate personal barriers to cultural competency and be able to reflect and adapt purposeful patient interactions
3. Address health inequities and barriers to care found in different groups to improve patient care outcomes
4. Implement identity and intersectionality as a means of understanding others to improve quality of care
5. Describe the difference between conscious and unconscious biases and understand how they can lead to poor health outcomes for patients
6. Understand cultural competency, awareness, and humility and the applicability of these concepts to the medical facilities, facilities for the dependent, and other facilities defined in NRS Statute 449
7. Establish or bolster welcoming and safe environments within their respective facilities
8. Understand assumptions and myths of various concepts and groups detailed in the presentation and be able to identify those issues in the health care setting and mitigate those issues.
Providers can sign up for the course under the “Schedule” tab on the course website here.