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Learning Objective 1: Examine impact on international nursing scholars who visit the US to participate in scholarly development.
Learning Objective 2: Recommend strategies to improve short study experiences for international nurses visiting the US.
An electronic survey was emailed to 120 international nurses who participated in the Visiting International Scholars (VIS) program at a large school of nursing since 2001. Each visitor was assigned a mentor to guide an individual program of study. The survey included demographics, a self-assessment of impact using a likert scale, and open-ended questions. Data analysis included descriptive statistics and qualitative content analysis.
The presentation will include demographic data and discussion of three themes. Based on 59 completed surveys, most respondents were female between 31-50 years old during the experience; 86% were from China, South Korea, Thailand or Taiwan; 66% were in the US for 1 semester or less. The longest stay was 18 months. Reasons for the visit included part of their PhD program, post-doctoral fellowship, and faculty or specialty development.
Benefits were that the experience contributed to their professional career, intellectual development, interactions with people from other countries, broadened their view of nursing and health care, and helped develop their self-confidence. Three primary themes emerged from the open ended questions: skill development, changing views of nursing, and career advancement. Many respondents report continuing collaboration with their US mentors.
Like US nurses, international nurses report global study experiences contribute to personal and professional development. Data from the study can help fill a gap in the current literature and inform the design of mutually beneficial global health partnerships.