Nursing leaders, and educators recognize that the incoming work force has to be prepared to care for that global community and preparing this workforce has to begin with entry-level clinicians. Commonplace in traditional undergraduate baccalaureate education students receive some training, and experiences in providing cultural competent care, but international healthcare experiences vary among higher BSN education programs. Cultural competence requires both formal knowledge and clinical experiences with culturally diverse individuals and communities. The purpose of this this presentation is to highlight one of the unique global service learning experiences that Villanova University developed and implemented during a curriculum revision in 2014 to continue in which threaded an international experience among several clinical courses for students to learn with and among different clinical courses. Goals of the curricular change include: marrying theory and clinical content among the maternal-child health and pediatric courses with building concepts for junior to senior nursing students, having traditional undergraduate nursing students work with second degree nursing students, allowing graduate nurse practitioner students participate in mentoring undergraduate nursing students prior to and in country, and incorporating health promotion and prevention concepts into core clinical courses. The authors will highlight how teaching across the curriculum was incorporated into this global service learning experience at home and in country and demonstrate how clinical courses can work together to achieve similar theory and clinical course and student outcomes.
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