With nurses and midwives providing the majority of health care globally, nursing education needs to prepare students with competencies for broader responsibilities to move forward for equitable care and universal health coverage. Following guidelines in World Health Organization’s Global Strategic Directions for Nursing and Midwifery 2016-2020, XXSON reviewed its approach to teaching through a global lens and concluded that its global activities were siloed, with faculty often working independently on global projects and no shared vision for the work nor coordinated involvement of students. The Office of Global Initiatives was established in 2012 to centralize and expand its global health priorities as a strong pillar of the education, practice and research of future nurses. XXSON developed and implemented a vibrant approach to curriculum transformation that included a new didactic global health equity course complemented with a program of global clinical experiences to expand students’ learning environments.
Methods:
Processes involved implementing a new required course, Global Health Equity and the Responsibility of the Nursing Profession, for all new students; establishing criteria and identifying appropriate clinical sites; mobilizing support within the school; recruiting and preparing students; coordinating preceptorship; evaluation; and developing reciprocal activities with and defined by each site, such as research capacity building, curriculum development, program development.
Results:
Between 2014 -2017, 596 students completed a new course that generated new perspectives on health as a human right. Sixty-four students participated in global clinical integration in eight countries by Spring 2018; fifty-five students has submitted applications for Spring 2018 global clinical experiences, more than doubling the number from 2017. Global health disparities became real as did examples on provision of care with minimal resources. All students indicated choosing such an experience again.
Conclusion: Curricula transformation to prepare students for global challenges as they enter the profession is a dynamic one. Global sites welcomed collaborations which expanded to include curricular development, research capacity building, and exchange programs. Students expressed deepened understanding of disparities, nursing roles with challenged infrastructures, and commitment to nursing’s responsibility to advocate for health justice. Critical to building a new approach to global health responsibility is collaboration that embraces reciprocity and commitment to what partnering host institutions define as priority needs, maximizing equity of exchange. We recommend that nursing and midwifery educational institutions expand curriculum to the larger global focus as a path that embodies new clinical realities for our profession.