b'Native American and Indigenous StudiesThe Significance of Plants among Indigenous PeoplesCarter Gilbert, Native American and Indigenous Studies Faculty Sponsor: Dr. Lovern Lovern, Native American and Indigenous StudiesThis paper will explore the spiritual and healing role of plants in Indigenous communities. Using Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK), with an emphasis on Indigenous health sciences, the paper will focus on the significance of certain plants.Specific cultures and traditions will be examined to illustrate how plants function in medicines, rituals, and daily activities in a way that marks the plants as active community members. In order to highlight the significance of plants as community members, the paper will explore their roles in Indigenous cosmologies along with plant origin narratives.The paper concludes that the role of plants in Indigenous communities differs significantly from the role of plants in Western cultures.NursingCultural Competence in Nursing PracticeMatt Harrell, Malkom Hays, Mazey Roberts, and Dalena Stringer, School of NursingFaculty Sponsor: Lisa Lowe, MSN, RN, FNP-C, School of NursingAmericas melting pot society influences the deliverance of culturally competent care in nursing practice and influential health care professionals.Our research question is what is the process by which nurses who work in the hospital cope with, adapt to, or live with cultural differences? Atypical culture(s) can be misunderstood or misrepresented due to lack of communication.Our determination is to bring forth current evidence to achieve thorough research on the topic.Through a search conducted in the Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL) database, we found eight articles addressing issues of the complexity to self-awareness, health disparities, and responsible care. The key impact of this research is to promote the delivery of culturally competent care in the future.56'