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Nursing
education 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 addition, the opportunities for nurses to influence
the health of people through their roles as nurse
practitioners, nurse midwives, home care clinicians,
managers and administrators, health educators,
acute and long term care clinicians, and faculty
are growing dramatically.
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 pre-licensure, 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:
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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?
-
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?
-
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?
-
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?
-
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?
-
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?
-
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?
-
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 one's 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 (for
those studying at the undergraduate level),
or in the school's chapter of Sigma Theta Tau
International, 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
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 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, 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!
Studying Nursing in the
United States
Theresa M. Valiga, EdD, RN, FAAN
Chief Program Officer
National League for Nursing
61 Broadway- 33rd Floor
New York, NY 10006
generalinfo@nln.org
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