Lessons Learned: Incorporating Global Health Patient Experiences Into a BSN Curriculum

The development and implementation of global health experiences in our concept-infused BSN curriculum is valued at an institutional, administrative, and curriculum level to foster interconnectedness, compassion, clinical judgement and future advancement of nursing research. The institutional mission supports providing high quality culturally diverse educational opportunities for students and faculty to improve the health of people (TTUHSC Strategic Plan, 2016). Due to administrative value and support of global health experiences, our school of nursing has global health faculty representatives who collaborate with course faculty throughout the curriculum to compare the objectives of the global health experience to semester course objectives to determine synchrony and mastery and the number of clinical hours the student receives in each course after completing the global health experience. According to Glazer, Clark, and Bankston (2015), meeting the demands of the diverse 21^st century population is dependent upon providing “high quality culturally competent care (p.1).” Providing students an opportunity to participate in global health experiences at an undergraduate level enhances the development of cultural competence and the likely hood of career involvement and future nursing research at the global level (Glazer, Clark & Bankston, 2015). Through the transformation of globalization the world is challenged to meet individual and collective needs of all cultures represented. Reflection, application and theory are guiding the transformation of praxis with a focus on global health and wellness. Recognizing Healthy People 2020 wellness goals for selected aggregates and populations includes health promotion across the life span and compares to the World Health Organization goals to improve health worldwide. The leading health indicators include: access to health services, clinical preventive services, environmental quality, injury and violence, maternal, infant and child health, mental health, nutrition, physical activity, and obesity, oral health, reproductive and sexual health, social determinants, substance abuse and tobacco (About Healthy People, 2016) . These indicators were used in the development of the global health experience to assist in promoting global health and wellness (Cock et. al., 2013).