Many congratulations to the INU nursing collaborative group who have been successful in their application for Seed Money Funding from INU for a project on “The Use of Virtual Learning Spaces to Cultivate Cultural Competency and Leadership for Global Citizenship in Nursing”.
The application highlighted that “in order to close the health care gap that people around the world receive, it is of great significance to educate nurses to collaborate across and within national borders. It is imperative we develop nurses who are multicultural and capable of demonstrating leadership in multiple environments. Many nurses enter the profession with little knowledge of the societal injustices as well as cultural and educational inequities, calling for increased cultural awareness and global citizenship in nursing programmes (Petit dit Dariel, 2009). ”
The application also highlighted the use of virtual online technologies for this project “have proven to be an effective method to increase cultural awareness and promote global citizenship. Technology enhanced learning approaches offer many opportunities for collaborative learning including the ability to communicate with peers and colleagues regardless of the geographic location. These technologies provide students an opportunity to engage in collaborative learning with peers from other higher education institutions (Ertmer et al., 2011a; Garrett & Cutting, 2012). Students will also develop an understanding of various healthcare systems/services, different cultures and countries, and research practices. ”
Six INU member universities will be part of the project, which aims to:
- Increase student exposure to diverse cultural groups
- Measure the degree of change in cultural competency prior to and after the virtual exchange experience while fostering leadership development
- Describe the degree of self-awareness and identify themes after the virtual exchange, and;
- Develop a sustainable platform for virtual exchange experiences for students and faculty in the participating programmes.
The project partners are as follows:
- Professor Portia J Jordan, Department of Nursing and Midwifery, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University, Cape Town, South Africa.
- Associate Professor Christine Argenbright, School of Nursing, James Madison University, Harrisonburg, USA
- Associate Professor Maria Jiménez-Herrera, Faculty of Nursing, Universität Rovira I Virgili, Tarragona Spain
- Professor Michiko Moriyama & Associate Professor Kako Mayumi, Department of Nursing Science, Graduate School of Biomedical and Health Sciences, Hiroshima University, Hiroshima, Japan
- Senior Lecturer Helena Rezende, School of Nursing, Kingston University, London, United Kingdom.
- Associate Professor Elisabeth Mangrio, Department of Care Sciences, Malmö University, Malmö, Sweden
INU is delighted to be supporting this project and thanks the project partners for taking the lead in this initiative.