Paper
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
An International Partnership in Higher Education in Nursing: Getting Started
Barbara J. Astle, RN, MN and Linda D. Ogilvie, RN, PhD. Faculty of Nursing, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada
| Learning Objective #1: understand initial elements in starting a international educational partnership in nursing. |
| Learning Objective #2: describe aspects of the importance of how critical Getting Started is for understanding the process for building and sustaining an educational partnership in nursing. |
There is a consensus, globally, that investment in human resources is integral to the technological and socioeconomic development of all nations. Nurses are essential to maintaining the infrastructure that promotes improvement of the health status of a country’s population. Nurse scholars have written about the importance of possessing a global perspective toward the goal of health and social justice for all, with international partnerships viewed as one strategy through which this goal may be achieved. The purpose of this study was to explore contextual features of history, culture, setting, decision-making, and intercultural communication that contribute to building and sustaining successful international development partnerships in higher education in nursing. A qualitative methodological framework was used to guide the research process using case study research and participatory action research (PAR). The particular case analyzed was an educational partnership between a Faculty of Nursing in Canada and a School of Nursing in Ghana, West Africa in the development of a Master of Philosophy (Nursing) program in Ghana. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with Canadian and Ghanaian faculty, and focus groups conducted with the beneficiaries of the project, the four cohorts of Ghanaian students, about their perceptions of the partnership. A core group of Canadian and Ghanaian participants were involved in the data analysis and development of recommendations with the researcher. The presentation focuses on the first category of Getting Started, in which three themes emerged: taking the opportunity, associating and committing. Highlighted in this category is importance of how critical this notion was for understanding the process for building and sustaining a successful international educational partnership in nursing.