Methods: In Vietnam, there are limited graduate education opportunities for nurses. A collaborative partnership between a US and Vietnam university was established to provide a master’s of science in nursing (MSN) for BSN prepared nurses living in Vietnam. This innovative education collaborative ensures contextually and culturally relevant graduate education for nurses in Vietnam. The US university is the degree granting university and the Vietnam university is the host university and cultural broker for visiting US nursing faculty. The MSN, a 36 credit CCNE accredited program, includes 30 hours of course work and 6 credits for thesis research. The program is delivered in Vietnam where students live and work. The curriculum meets The Essentials of Master’s Education in Nursing (https://www.aacnnursing.org/Education-Resources/AACN-Essentials). The program is taught in English. Students were provided additional English language support throughout the program by English tutors at the US university for written assignments.
Students who met university international graduate and nursing school requirements were admitted to the MSN program. The implementation model featured an intense face-to-face course orientation and teaching at the host university in Vietnam with the US faculty member, with subsequent online course delivery. All students met English language proficiency requirements for admission to the university; however, the complexity of the program content and differences in BSN preparation required innovative teaching/learning strategies. Such strategies included virtual experiences, using Zoom for video conferencing, course content delivery, office hours and individual consultation. Individual videos, precorded lectures, active learning activities during the in-country intensive classes as well as group and individual work were also employed. Course assignments, ensuring fidelity to course learning outcomes, were modified to ensure contextual relevance for student learners. Using evidence based approaches regarding feedback on both scholarly content and English writing, faculty provided extensive feedback to students to ensure mastery of key course concepts and outcomes. Modeling best practices in online delivery (Allen & Seaman, 2010; Sitzman & Watson, 2017) as well as educator competencies established by the National League for Nursing (2005), faculty were committed to not only facilitating these students in their graduate work, but helping them prepare to be nurse educators themselves.
Results: Nineteen students have successfully completed all but thesis of the MSN program. All are enrolled in thesis credits. All have thesis proposals in the last stages of development. Research topics cluster in three areas:
1) clinical care, particularly applying standards of care to the Vietnamese hospital setting, for example, eye care for ICU patients, assessment for PTSD in critically ill patients, best practices in perioperative care
2) health system projects like investigating ways to reduce wait time or reduce medical error through effective patient identification
3) patient and nurse education such as assessing needs of diabetic patients for self-care, ways to prevent falls in hospitalized patients, and improving the transition for nursing students to first positions as graduates.
All of these thesis studies will inform and improve care in vulnerable groups in the population of Vietnam, and prepare nursing professionals to lead evidence based change in practice and education.
Lessons learned from implementation of the innovative program include heightened awareness of effective faculty approaches, those at a distance, and particularly appropriate for culturally diverse students in the setting where they live and work. Creating presence in the online classroom was considered essential and fostered by weekly and biweekly Zoom, virtual classroom, sessions (Plante & Asselin, 2014; Sitzman, 2016). Further challenges were the optimal balance between group and individual work, ways to enhance learning for complex concepts and mentoring very motivated graduate students through the thesis process.
Implications for nursing education and practice/Conclusion: The achievement of master’s preparation by these Vietnamese nurses will provide leaders who will serve their country by increasing the capacity of higher education programs in Vietnam to produce greater numbers of nurses. Several have indicated their intent to pursue doctoral education; their master’s degrees and individual research experiences will prepare them for success in further education. Both master’s and doctorally prepared nurses are urgently needed in Vietnam and in other developing countries. Innovative collaborations between the US and other developed countries’ nursing education programs can enable the preparation of these essential nurse faculty.