Study Overseas

Nursing in the United States has undergone tremendous changes in recent years. Those providing care and teaching in schools of nursing are better prepared educationally than ever before, the science that underlies our practice is increasingly being built through scholarly efforts of nurses, and collaborative partnerships between nurses and other health care workers continue to evolve.

In order to prepare nurses for beginning and advanced levels of practice, educational programs also have undergone tremendous changes in recent years. Many curricula are creative and interactive, rather than rigid and proscriptive. Education is more learner-focused than teacher-centered.

Clinical experiences for students reflect a greater emphasis on community-based care, health promotion, disease prevention, family involvement, and self-care. And the integration of technology and the use of distance learning strategies are more evident in nursing education programs.

In educational programs there is an increased emphasis on documenting program outcomes and demonstrating that graduates do, indeed, have the patient care, thinking, and communication abilities needed to function in our complex, constantly-changing, ambiguous, unpredictable, chaotic health care arena.

Finally, nurse educators are realizing that there is an art and a science to teaching nursing - just as there is an art and a science to practicing nursing - and they are seeking preparation in curriculum development and evaluation, creative teaching/learning strategies, student and program evaluation, and other areas that complement their clinical specialization and expertise.

What to Expect

In light of these changes, students coming to the United States to study nursing should expect to find graduate and undergraduate programs that are challenging, innovative, and designed to meet their individual needs as learners. You should expect state-of-the-art practice laboratories that will help you learn and enhance comprehensive assessment skills, as well as home care and technological skills.

You should expect to find library and computer resources that will allow you to access unlimited resources, be creative in teaching patients about managing their own health, communicate with experts in the field, and continually develop your own knowledge base and scholarly abilities.

Students who study in the U.S. will be exposed to patients/families from a vast array of cultural, ethnic, religious, socioeconomic, and educational backgrounds: homeless men who live on the streets of Detroit or New York, the 12-year-old single mother of Hispanic descent, the 6-year-old Hmong child suffering from asthma, the Chinese scholar, and the migrant worker with less than a high school education, among others.

Nursing students - under the guidance of well-qualified faculty -- have many opportunities to touch and be touched by the lives of others who may be vastly different from themselves. Such experiences with diverse populations contribute to the students' understanding of human beings, as well as to their ability to provide culturally-sensitive care.

Factors to Consider in Program Selection

As you consider coming to the United States to study nursing at the undergraduate, master's, or doctoral level, you need to look carefully at a number of factors. Although this is not intended to be a complete list, the following things are important to consider when selecting a program:

1. What courses in and outside nursing are required of students in the program? Will they help you build the knowledge base you need to pursue your professional career?

2. How much flexibility is there in the program? Are there opportunities to select courses that are of interest to you? Are there opportunities to design individualized learning experiences (e.g., clinical experiences, the topic of a course paper, the case studies you develop) that will meet your own needs?

3. What kinds of clinical experiences are available for students? Will you be able to work with diverse populations and in a variety of settings (e.g., acute care hospitals, home care agencies, hospice settings, clinics, community health centers, etc.)? What role do students have in selecting their clinical experiences?

4. What are the qualifications of the faculty? Are they all prepared at the master's or doctoral level in nursing (or in the nursing-related specialty they teach, such as Pharmacology)? Are they clinically competent? Are they scholars in their areas of teaching? Are they leaders in the field?

5. What resources are available to support students in the program? Are the library, practice laboratories, and computer centers comprehensive and current, offering state-of-the-art technology and adequate technological support?

6. What resources are available to support international students in the program? Are there special advisors for international students ... advisors who are sensitive to the needs of students studying abroad and able to help those students become a part of the life of the program?

7. What are the relationships like among students and between students and faculty? Is there a "spirit" of learning together? Do students have the opportunity to work collaboratively on projects? Are master's students able to work with faculty on the faculty member's research? Do faculty see themselves as learners as well as teachers?

8. What is the accreditation status of the program? Has the program undergone a comprehensive review by peers outside the institution and been judged to meet standards for academic programs that have been set by the profession?

Studying Nursing in the United States - Taking full advantage of all that is available

Any student who comes to the United States to study nursing also should plan to take advantage of a wide range of professional opportunities that are available at college or university, in the local or regional nursing community, and at the national level. For example, attendance at special lectures that may be given by national and international nursing leaders should not be missed.

Participation in the school's chapter of the National Student Nurses Association http://www.nsna.org/ (for those studying at the undergraduate level), or in the school's chapter of Sigma Theta Tau International http://www.nursingsociety.org/default.aspx , the Honor Society of Nursing, gives students an opportunity to exert leadership roles, interact with the field's leading scholars, and participate in the political process to influence positive change.

In addition, students interested in a clinical career who attend an annual meeting of the State Nurses Association or American Nurses Association http://nursingworld.org/ or a meeting of a specialty group (e.g., critical care nurses or oncology nurses) can witness how associations work and how nurses influence policy formulation, as well as learn the newest approaches to caring for patients/families/communities.

Students interested in a career as a nurse manager or executive should plan to attend local or national meetings of the American Organization of Nurse Executives http://www.aone.org/aone_app/index.jsp to appreciate the kind of issues nurses in such positions must address (e.g., staffing, workforce development, fiscal management) and new approaches to dealing with such issues.

Finally, students interested in a career as a nurse educator should plan to attend the National League for Nursing's Education Summit http://www.nln.org/Summit/index.htm , where they will have the opportunity to interact with nurse educators from a variety of programs as they explore new approaches to teaching/learning, the research that underlies nursing education, and innovative curriculum/program designs. These types of "extra-curricular" experiences serve to enhance the learning of all students, but may be of particular interest to international students who are able to compare the issues discussed with those that exist in their own home countries and analyze the proposed solutions for their relevance "at home."

Summary

As nursing and nursing education in the U.S. continue to develop in exciting ways, the opportunities for international students are unlimited. American students and faculty realize how much they have to offer to students from other countries, but - perhaps more importantly- they also realize how much they can learn from students whose homes lie outside the borders of the United States.

Within a higher education context that is increasingly learner-centered and that emphasizes mutual, collaborative learning, the U.S. provides an incredibly rich environment for students and faculty from all types of backgrounds to study and learn together. Just as interaction with patients/families of diverse backgrounds enhances the lives of nurses in practice, interaction with fellow students from diverse background enhances the lives of nursing students and faculty.

This is an exciting time for nursing and nursing education. Students who come to the United States to study nursing will be challenged, involved, excited, and helped to meet their personal and professional goals. Hopefully, YOU will be among those students who take advantage of this opportunity!

Author:
Theresa M. Valiga, Ed.D., RN
Director of Research and Professional Development
National League for Nursing

http://www.nln.org/