Discussion postCultural competence

General Awareness And Attitudes Scale Essay

The brief says every clinician has bias and asks you to determine how strong yours is. That word turns a confessional post into a measurement one.

Editorial process

Last reviewed · August 23, 2026

Written by

Maren Caldwell

MSN, RN, CNE

Medical-surgical nursing, pharmacology and NCLEX preparation

Reviewed by

Dr. Tessa Redmond

DNP, RN, CNE

Evidence-based practice and clinical education

On this page

Interpret the task
Assignment instructions
Deliverables
Proposed outline
Research plan
Reference shortlist
Final review

Determine is a measurement word

The verb is determine, not confess, and that distinction sets the register for the whole post. A confessional post lists the groups you feel some discomfort about and promises to do better, which is unfalsifiable and slightly performative. A measurement post asks how you would know, which is a real methodological question with a real literature behind it. Self-report is weak for exactly the reason the brief hints at, since social desirability makes people report the bias they know they should not have and miss the ones they do not know about. That is why implicit measures exist, and naming one, together with the caveat that its individual-level reliability is contested, shows you understand what measurement of this kind can and cannot deliver. That is what the brief means about acknowledging bias taking more strength: the strength is in looking for evidence rather than in the admission.

The stronger evidence in a clinical context is behavioural rather than introspective, and this is where the post can be genuinely useful. Bias in nursing practice shows up in documented patterns: differences in pain assessment and analgesia by patient race, differences in how often restraints or security are involved, differences in the time spent explaining a discharge plan, differences in who is described in the chart as non-compliant rather than as facing barriers. Those are all measurable at unit level, and a nurse can audit their own practice against them in a way no self-report captures. Close on what you would actually change, and be specific, because the honest finding in this literature is that awareness alone changes little while structured processes do: a standard pain assessment applied to every patient constrains bias more reliably than any amount of resolve to be fair. Naming what you would audit is the concrete half of the answer.

Likely learning objectives

Distinguish measuring bias from confessing to it.
Assess the limits of self-report and implicit measures.
Identify documented behavioural markers of bias in clinical care.
Prefer structured process changes over awareness as a remedy.

Assignment instructions

Read the full question

Review every instruction before using the planning guidance that follows.

Each person has his or her own personal history; that is, his or her collected experiences. Everything you have ever seen, heard, felt, learned, or experienced has lead to the development of this personal history. Factors that affect this history include your gender, race, age, ethnicity, culture, education, native language, and religion, to name a few. Collectively, these factors create the sum total of who you are as a person. Bias occurs when a person has a tendency towards a particular perspective or ideology (i.e. your personal history); after all, you see the world through your own eyes. To some extent, every person has a natural bias. However, if or when your personal bias interferes with your ability to be unprejudiced or objective – especially in your nursing practice – your biases can become problematic. In this discussion, you will have the opportunity to determine how strong your biases are.You should post your original message by 23:59 PM Wednesday. You should also reply to posts by two of your peers by 23:59 PM, Saturday of Module 3. GUIDELINES In the professional nursing practice, nurses must provide unbiased care, even in situations where the person/s being treated have different backgrounds (language, religion, culture, ethnicity, etc.) than you. The first step in overcoming and minimizing personal biases is to recognize them. In this discussion, you will assess your personal biases. Answer the questions honestly and to the best of your ability, noting that there are no right or wrong answers. · Complete the General Awareness and Attitudes Scale review the document o The General Awareness and Attitudes Scale is adapted from the Cultural Awareness Scale by Catterson, Cookston, Martinez, & Rew (1998). Answer the question as honestly as possible. There are no right or wrong answers. · Once you complete and score the General Awareness and Attitudes Scale, answer the following questions: · What does the scale say about you? · How strong are your biases? · NOTE: Do NOT post your individual scores. This discussion is not about how you score, but about personal discovery. In other words, the focus of this discussion is about what you learn about yourself. You also do NOT need to share your score with your academic coach. · How can you address these personal biases in your professional nursing practice? General Awareness And Attitudes Scale Essay Your original post should consist of complete sentences and should be at least two complete paragraphs but no more than three paragraphs.

Course-wide instructions that accompany this question

You must proofread your paper. But do not strictly rely on your computer’s spell-checker and grammar-checker; failure to do so indicates a lack of effort on your part and you can expect your grade to suffer accordingly. Papers with numerous misspelled words and grammatical mistakes will be penalized. Read over your paper – in silence and then aloud – before handing it in and make corrections as necessary. Often it is advantageous to have a friend proofread your paper for obvious errors. Handwritten corrections are preferable to uncorrected mistakes. Use a standard 10 to 12 point (10 to 12 characters per inch) typeface. Smaller or compressed type and papers with small margins or single-spacing are hard to read. It is better to let your essay run over the recommended number of pages than to try to compress it into fewer pages. Likewise, large type, large margins, large indentations, triple-spacing, increased leading (space between lines), increased kerning (space between letters), and any other such attempts at “padding” to increase the length of a paper are unacceptable, wasteful of trees, and will not fool your professor. The paper must be neatly formatted, double-spaced with a one-inch margin on the top, bottom, and sides of each page. When submitting hard copy, be sure to use white paper and print out using dark ink. If it is hard to read your essay, it will also be hard to follow your argument

What this Module 3 discussion asks for

01An original discussion post determining how strong your biases are.
02Replies to at least two peers by the stated deadline.
03Engagement with the professional expectation of providing unbiased care.