Paper
Monday, November 5, 2007
433
Transcultural Nursing Experience in the Philippines: A Global Collaboration
Stephen C. Hadwiger, RN, PhD, MS(N) and Mariquit C. Hadwiger, MS(N), RN. Nursing Program, Truman State University, Kirksville, MO, USA
| Learning Objective #1: review the utility of a cultural assessment as a learning tool between nursing students from two different countries. |
| Learning Objective #2: explore learning experiences shared by nursing students beyond planned clinical activities. |
“Transcultural Nursing Experience in the Philippines” was a study-abroad program designed to increase international and cross-cultural nursing experiences for senior nursing students in a Midwestern university of the United States. Through a collaborative agreement with a government university nursing program in the Philippines, a buddy system was developed between American nursing students and Filipino nursing students. The partnering of nursing students from both countries produced richer learning experiences for both groups of nursing students beyond those planned for the study-abroad program. Cultural assessments were performed between students from the two ethnic groups as one tool for learning about cultural diversity. But shared clinical experiences provided each student further discoveries about cultural knowledge and orientations of members from the other ethnic group. Unity through diversity was enhanced between the two ethnic groups by social activities planned by the students themselves following clinical rotations.