Through the Lens of Future Leaders: Nursing Student Immersion in Global Health

Purpose: To describe activities that contributed to students’ development as leaders with the capacity to contribute to global health and influenced their philosophies of nursing.

Methods: Four undergraduate U.S. nursing students enrolled in the KILN program explicate the impact of nontraditional international immersion experiences on their appreciation of: 1) diverse healthcare traditions and delivery systems; 2) new perspectives on U.S. healthcare; and 3) common global health challenges.

Results:

South Africa: Throughout a semester of volunteer work in underdeveloped communities of Cape Town, disparities in resources along racial and socioeconomic lines became readily apparent; mobile clinics were the only option for many.  Preventing, diagnosing, and treating HIV and tuberculosis are the primary healthcare concerns.

Switzerland: During a summer program with nursing students from the US, Singapore, India, Canada, and Switzerland, global health comparisons became evident.  Despite variations in disease rates and available technologies, nurses worldwide share concerns about issues including assisted suicide, elder care, and domestic abuse.   

Ecuador: An immersion semester revealed that people with the ability to pay receive timely care at modern hospitals, but the poor must wait to be treated at a public facility.  The role of the nurse in Ecuador is quite different from the nurse in the US, and this experience stimulated a desire to work toward change that would result in worldwide standardization of the nursing role.

Panama: An interdisciplinary summer service trip provided opportunities to provide healthcare and education to underserved rural Panamanians.  The autonomy given to novice medical and nursing students was unexpected and Spanish language fluency became central to the team’s success.  Major health problems including communicable disease could be addressed by educating young Panamanians as health professionals.

Conclusion: These opportunities have enlightened and empowered future leaders about nursing and health issues globally and in their own backyard.