Tell me something I don't know: an activity for implicit bias awareness

Abstract

Background

Implicit bias exists in healthcare and can have a negative effect on patient assessments and treatment decisions.

Purpose

The “Tell Me Something I Don't Know” activity utilizes a version of an ice-breaker game to introduce a strategy for implicit bias awareness to nursing students.

Method

For this activity, students are given a blank index card and instructed to anonymously write down one or two facts about themselves that their classmates would not know. Once completed, cards are collected and read aloud where students then attempt to guess which fact belongs to whom.

Results

Students are amazed when they learn unforeseen facts about their peers, such as someone owning a goat farm, attending poetry readings, or speaking different languages. However, students are even more surprised when they realize that they may have made biased or stereotypical assumptions.

Conclusion

The activity concludes with an instructor-led interactive discussion where students discuss ways to avoid conforming to biased stereotypes and how that translates to the importance of not making assumptions about our patients.