| Learning Objective #1: Share the struggle of Vietnamese nurses in advancing the profession of nursing in a country devastated by wars and internal conflict | |||
| Learning Objective #2: Discuss how transcultural collaborations, partnerships, and mentoring connections assist nurses in Vietnam in developing standards for education and practice |
This is part of a larger study aimed at generating knowledge about the lived experience of Vietnamese nurses and to understand the challenges facing them as they work towards advancing the nursing profession in Vietnam. It is hoped that the themes evolving from this in-dept case study of one nurse who has remained in practice for over 40 years will give meaning to the experience of being a nurse in a country emerging from years of war and internal conflict. The researcher used the combined case study by Yin and phenomenological approach by van Manen. Multiple sources of evidence included the series of interviews with the main participant, interviews with five nursing colleagues, review of documents, and participant observation. Data were analyzed according to van Manen's phenomenological research approach. The study traced the historical phases of nursing in Vietnam. Furthermore, the research explored current transcultural collaborations, partnerships, and mentoring connections including school linkages between Vietnam and other countries. All these are providing assistance to the Vietnamese nurses in developing (a) the first Bachelor of Science in Nursing curriculum, (b) standards for nursing education and practice, (c) a code of ethics for nurses, and (d) programs to upgrade technical and secondary nurses. Six themes emerged from the interviews and participant transcripts. The varied experiences of the nurses brought forth themes of struggle, commitment, upgrading, patience, lifelong learning and hope. These nurses' descriptions or their experiences became the source of thematic aspects, consistent with van Manen's procedure. Findings demonstrated the richness of the experience, aspirations, dreams, and struggles of Vietnamese nurses.
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