In order to meet the SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals), attention needs to be paid in nursing curriculums to developing global citizens. With the vast educational requirements within nursing curriculums, it is important to devise ways to broaden global learning experiences within brief, but transformative, experiences.
Methods:
The Ohio State University College of Nursing and Lovisenberg Diakonale University College in Oslo, Norway partnered to develop a 2-week intensive clinical experience in community and population health, capitalizing on approaches to student learning opportunities involving US-Norwegian student dyads.
Integral to these experiences are joint home visits where, together, these students devise and implement plans of care for individuals and families. Teams of students from both universities hear from and interview key informants contributing to “Oslo by Night” – a community-focused 2-week event targeting population-specific threats to disadvantaged and disenfranchised populations (e.g., immigrants and refugees, the homeless, those with mental illness, the elderly). They also complete joint intervention projects addressing a selected community health need during this event. During this intensive experience, students complete their required clinical hours for the course while imbedded in a unique cultural context and learning environment.
Evidence-based teaching strategies were employed with content based first on identified student learning goals followed by selection of learning strategies. We integrated teacher-driven methods (e.g., powerpoint, guest lecture, videos) integrated with student-driven approaches (e.g., think-pair-share, project-based learning, role plays, concept mapping) to meet learning outcomes of this combined theory-based and clinical course. It was important to focus on topics that could be reflected in the international experience to illustrate broader ways of thinking, essentially covering less content while having students learn more. Effective assignments for the experience were aligned to course outcomes, authentic, scaffolded, varied and achievable within the 2-week time frame.
Results:
Challenges to implementation will be discussed including the need for rapid student socialization, differing curricular requirements, somewhat divergent health care system paradigms and preparing students for clinical experiences that might be less likely to occur in their home setting (e.g., FGM female genital mutilation treatment agency, heroin injection treatment centers, extensive paternity leave and parenting support groups). We also describe integration of the classroom experiences that facilitate global learning for those students who did not go overseas so that the experience extended beyond that of the traveling students. Data from The Intercultural Development Inventory assessment is also collected and discussed for additional evaluative efforts to continue to refine and build the program.
Conclusion:
This global collaborative partnership between two academic institutions fostered initiatives that address cultural and health inequities while building global citizens in nursing. Integrating a global health perspective in nursing curriculum can benefit both students who can travel for an overseas experiences as well as those who continue in their home-based program.