Development and evaluation of an international service learning experience for public health nursing students

Baccalaureate nursing students need to be prepared to provide culturally appropriate care to a diverse population in a variety of settings. International service learning (ISL) experiences may be an effective educational strategy to promote cultural competence, global awareness, and professional and personal growth. Using Riner's framework for globally engaged nursing education, an international service learning program in the Dominican Republic (DR) was developed. The international service learning experience included 1) didactics, (five, two hour and one full day educational sessions) prior to 2) immersion (two weeks in country) and 3) post-trip debriefing sessions. Eleven female, junior and senior nursing students participated in the program. The need to develop effective evaluation tools to understand students' experiences in ISL is important to justify the validity of ISL experiences in the nursing curriculum. The impact of an ISL experience on cultural competence, global awareness, professional and personal growth of baccalaureate students in the Dominican Republic will be presented. In review of measurement tools on cultural competency and transcultural self-efficacy, the International Education Survey (IES) was selected to measure the impact of an ISL experience. Participating nursing students critically reflected on their experience daily while in country. Students submitted their daily journals for transcription and analysis. Themes are described based on the analysis of the qualitative data submitted by students. The IES will also be used to measure the effectiveness of the experience. Further exploration of the usefulness of various evaluation tools and methodological designs is warranted to understand this type of pedagogy.