Increasing sensitivity and understanding of global health issues among RN/BSN nursing students: Linking interest and practice to generate change

Global health concerns are important for health professionals to consider when encountering an increasingly diverse U.S. population. Knowledge about the cultures and health care practices of people around the globe are essential to providing quality health care.

In addition to knowledge acquisition, increased awareness and assuring quality practice, there is the challenge to educate and motivate health care professionals to look beyond traditional health care practice. This is especially true when a Registered Nurse, practicing their profession for several years, returns to college for their Baccalaureate Degree in Nursing. It is often during this learning experience that nurses broaden their understanding and appreciation of the many influences that shape the health experience of people within the community served by the medical care/treatment systems. Many colleges require a community/public health experience within this educational process. It is increasingly popular to provide a global health course/experience as an elective that broadens this world view.

This presentation will identify several examples of student initiatives and activism involved while in an RN/BSN undergraduate nursing course on Global Health issues and policy. Student responses and several examples of new activism and community involvement by students will be presented as well as examples of how this course informed their current professional nursing practice. Suggestions of how this increased awareness and interest can be extended beyond this educational experience will also be discussed. A call for increased exposure to international health and policy concerns within the BSN nursing curriculum will be articulated.