|
"[U.S. alumni of the program] find that they are extremely marketable in the workplace because of their ability to adapt to a new environment, speak Spanish and relate to other cultures. [Mexican alumni] are able to observe how U.S. nursing is practiced while improving fluency in the English language, both written and spoken." —Ruth B. Grubesic |
ADVANCING KNOWLEDGE THROUGH COLLABORATION
Border crossings How a nursing school in Mexico and a nursing school in the United States are collaborating to promote better health care while improving cross-cultural awareness by Ruth B. Grubesic Since 2001, Texas Woman’s University (TWU) College of Nursing in the United States and Universidad Panamericana (UPE) in Mexico have contracted to exchange nursing students for a one-month summer program. Altogether, 22 students from TWU in Houston have studied in Mexico City, and seven nursing students from UPE in Mexico City have studied in Houston. The collaborative program was developed to provide each exchange student with a unique opportunity to practice and learn about health care and nursing in another country and thus better understand health needs of individuals and populations in that country. This exchange has provided students in both countries with opportunities and experiences that stay with them for a lifetime. In addition to helping students become more proficient in another language, the program helps them:
Under the exchange program agreement, the host university in each country waives tuition and fees for the students. The students are required to pay for room and board, international health insurance and airfare. Each student receives credit from the university in the country of practice, credits that can later be transferred to the student’s home institution at his or her expense. Texas Woman’s University requires three credits of multicultural studies and three credits of women’s health studies as a part of the core curriculum. TWU students participating in the program may apply credits earned to either of these requirements. If a student has already fulfilled one or both of these requirements, the credits may be used as electives. All students are required to submit an application with the appropriate fee to the university where they plan to study for the summer. Mexican nursing students are also required to pass the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) exam with a minimum score of 550. All students must show proof of health insurance and a negative tuberculosis skin test. They are informed of recommended immunizations, although no immunizations are required at this time. Students must obtain their own passports. The international education office of TWU helps foreign students studying in the United States obtain a student visa. To help prepare them for culture shock, they are also given a list of suggested reading material. Mexican students receive free room and board, courtesy of the Nursing Innovation program at The Methodist Hospital in Houston. A Texas Medical Center hotel suite that accommodates four to six people serves as their home while in the United States. The first week of their four-week program in Houston is devoted to orientation, together with The Methodist Hospital’s new hires/nursing interns. After that, they spend three weeks rotating through various clinical sites at the hospital, during which time they observe operating room procedures and spend one day with a wound care nurse and one day with a diabetic nurse educator. They are supervised by a preceptor assigned by the hospital. Students from the United States who participate in the summer program at Universidad Panamericana spend several weeks at CIMIGEN, a maternal child hospital in Mexico City that serves pregnant women and newborn children. During the first two weeks of the program, the students observe procedures, assist in gathering information for clinical histories of pregnant women and conduct physical assessments of women with low-risk pregnancies. They also assist with Pap smears, the first opportunity for most of these students to practice these skills. In the evenings, U.S. students spend two hours in language instruction, focusing on conversational Spanish that emphasizes medical terminology and health assessment interviewing. To move on to the next phase of the program, students must pass a proficiency exam, after which they receive a certificate stating the number of training hours completed. The last two weeks of their program takes place in Toshi, a rural community of 1,800 people two hours from Mexico City. Here, they do home visits, conduct health education in schools and provide clinical care to both young and old residents of the community, who do not speak English. While in Toshi, the students are required to speak Spanish. The exchange program also provides research opportunities for TWU students. During the second summer of the program’s existence, students assisted in interviewing mothers about their children’s diets and measured the children’s heights and weights. The purpose of the study was to compare nutrition, physical activity and body mass indices (BMIs) of Toshi children to those of Hispanic children living in the United States. This data is currently being analyzed and, after being presented to Universidad Panamericana in Mexico City, will be shared with community and health care providers in Toshi. Instead of Toshi, students in the 2004 program worked in Cuernavaca, where they assisted with physical examinations of nearly 250 children living in an orphanage called Ministries of Love. Students with experience in laboratory procedures collected blood samples, throat cultures, urine specimens and stool samples. All data was given to the children’s pediatrician, who did follow-up visits for children with abnormal assessments and lab values. When in Mexico, the U.S. students, most of whom have never lived or worked away from their normal surroundings and comfort zones, often focus on the physical and emotional feelings that develop from feeling homesick, eating different foods, communicating in a new language and being surrounded by a different culture. Upon returning to the United States, they are able to process the experience and begin focusing on what they have learned. Many share these experiences with their colleagues at nursing school and, in the process, become the school’s best marketing tool for recruiting future students to the program. Alumni find that they are extremely marketable in the workplace because of their ability to adapt to a new environment, speak Spanish and relate to other cultures. Several have been selected for nursing positions over other applicants because of this unique experience and the skills it develops. Since 1990, the Hispanic population of Texas has increased by 54 percent. Currently, 32 percent of Texas residents are Hispanic, compared to 12.5 percent in the United States overall (U.S. Census, 2000). Nursing school faculty members can provide many opportunities for students to learn about the special health care needs of this population. By learning to speak Spanish and by becoming more familiar with the various Hispanic cultures, students become better health care providers. Students who study in Mexico can empathize with their Hispanic clients, because they have personally experienced living and working outside their own culture and comfort zone. Mexican nursing students who study in the United States are able to observe how U.S. nursing is practiced while improving fluency in the English language, both written and spoken. In Mexico, they spend a majority of their training in community health-based settings and focus on maternal and child health. While in the United States, they prefer to learn about high acuity and critical care nursing. Upon completing the program, they feel more competent to provide nursing care in those settings. RNL Ruth Grubesic, APRN, DrPH, BC, is assistant professor and director of International Nursing Affairs at Texas Woman’s University College of Nursing in Houston. For more information about the program, contact the author at RGrubesic@mail.twu.edu. Reference U.S. Census. (2000). Retrieved summer 2004. For additional photo, click on image below:
|
