Nurse Educator
Nurse Educator Vol. 41, No. 1, pp. 37-40 Copyright * 2016 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.
Process for Mapping Global Health Competencies in Undergraduate and Graduate Nursing Curricula Martha Dawson, DNP, RN, FACHE & C. Ann Gakumo, PhD, RN & Jennan Phillips, PhD, RN Lynda Wilson, PhD, RN, FAAN Determining the extent to which existing nursing curricula prepare students to address global health issues is a critical step toward ensuring competence to practice in an increasingly globalized world. This article describes the process used by nursing faculty at a public university in the southern United States to assess the extent to which global health competencies for nurses were being addressed across nursing programs. Steps used and lessons learned throughout this process are discussed. Keywords: competency-based education; curriculum; global health; nursing education
N
ursing educators are committed to ensuring that curricula are continually evaluated and updated to incorporate new knowledge and reflect changes in the global health care environment. The recent Ebola outbreak, which began in a small village in western Africa and spread to other African countries, Europe, and the United States, drew attention to transnational health issues. This crisis illustrates the importance of ensuring that all health professionals are educated for an increasingly globalized world and understand how social determinants of health in 1 country can affect populations residing thousands of miles away. Frenk and colleagues1 published recommendations from an independent global commission convened to develop ‘‘a shared vision and common strategy for postsecondary education in medicine, nursing, and public health that reaches beyond the confines of national borders and the silos of individual professions.’’(p5) These authors suggested that interprofessional global learning opportunities necessitate the redesigning of education in the health professions as a result of increased knowledge, global funding, advanced technology, and immigration of health professionals and their patients.1
Author Affiliations: Assistant Professor (Dr Dawson), School of Nursing, Department of Community Health, Outcomes and Systems, University of Alabama at Birmingham; Assistant Professor (Dr Gakumo), Department of Acute, Chronic and Continuing Care, University of Alabama at Birmingham; Assistant Professor (Dr Phillips), and Professor (Dr Wilson), Department of Community Health, Outcomes and Systems, University of Alabama at Birmingham. The authors declare no conflicts of interest. Correspondence: Dr Gakumo, 1720 2nd Ave S, Birmingham, AL 352941210 ([email protected]). Supplemental digital content is available for this article. Direct URL citations appear in the printed text and are provided in the HTML and PDF versions of this article on the journal’s Web site (www.nurseeducatoronline.com). Accepted for publication: May 30, 2015 Published ahead of print: July 9, 2015 DOI: 10.1097/NNE.0000000000000199
Nurse Educator
Nursing faculty members have exciting opportunities to refine nursing curricula to ensure that students are prepared to address emerging global health challenges and are also competent in global health. This article describes the process used by a group of nursing faculty members at a university school of nursing located in the southern United States to identify strategies to address the global-related goals that were identified in the school’s strategic plan (SP). The article focuses on the process and specific strategies that were used to map the curricula in the undergraduate and graduate programs in the school to determine the extent to which global health competencies for nurses were being addressed.
Background There is ongoing debate about the definition of global health. Koplan and colleagues2 compared the terms global health, international health, and public health and proposed that global health is ‘‘an area for study, research, and practice that places a priority on improving health and achieving equity in health for all people worldwide. Global health emphasizes transnational health issues, determinants, and solutions; involves many disciplines within and beyond the health sciences and promotes interdisciplinary collaboration; and is a synthesis of population based prevention with individuallevel clinical care.’’2(p1995) There is growing recognition of the need to integrate global health content into curricula of all health professions.1,3-5 The American Association of Colleges of Nursing Essentials outlines recommendations for baccalaureate, master’s, and doctor of nursing practice (DNP) curricula, and these documents all make reference to the importance of key global health concepts, although they do not identify specific global health competencies. For example, the Essentials for Baccalaureate Education in Nursing document6 suggests that baccalaureate curricula should include ‘‘concepts related to globalization and migration of populations.’’(p13) Other Essentials at that Volume 41 & Number 1 & January/February 2016
Copyright © 2015 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.
37
level address the importance of curriculum content that focuses on advocacy for social justice, health disparities, cultural humility, and emergency preparedness. The Essentials for Master’s Education specify the need to include content about ‘‘globalization and global health’’ under Essential VI (Health Policy and Advocacy).7 The Essentials for Doctoral Education for Advanced Nursing Practice8 include a recommendation that DNP graduates should be able to advocate for social justice and equity in health care and that DNP programs should prepare graduates to demonstrate leadership in development and implementation of ‘‘institutional, local, state, federal, and/or international health policy.’’(p14) A variety of strategies have been used to incorporate global health into health professional education including service learning; study-away programs; international clinical rotations; student and faculty exchanges; stand-alone global health courses; integrating global health content into existing courses; global partnerships in teaching, service, and research; and use of technology to promote student and faculty collaborations. Peluso et al9 noted that it is important to develop consensus on principles and competencies to guide the incorporation of global health into health professional curricula. There have been several recent initiatives to identify global health competencies that are needed by today’s health professionals, which might guide curricula for students in the health professions including medicine, nursing, and public health.10
Nurse Educator Vol. 41, No. 1, pp. 37-40 Copyright * 2016 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.
Process for Mapping Global Health Competencies in Undergraduate and Graduate Nursing Curricula Martha Dawson, DNP, RN, FACHE & C. Ann Gakumo, PhD, RN & Jennan Phillips, PhD, RN Lynda Wilson, PhD, RN, FAAN Determining the extent to which existing nursing curricula prepare students to address global health issues is a critical step toward ensuring competence to practice in an increasingly globalized world. This article describes the process used by nursing faculty at a public university in the southern United States to assess the extent to which global health competencies for nurses were being addressed across nursing programs. Steps used and lessons learned throughout this process are discussed. Keywords: competency-based education; curriculum; global health; nursing education
N
ursing educators are committed to ensuring that curricula are continually evaluated and updated to incorporate new knowledge and reflect changes in the global health care environment. The recent Ebola outbreak, which began in a small village in western Africa and spread to other African countries, Europe, and the United States, drew attention to transnational health issues. This crisis illustrates the importance of ensuring that all health professionals are educated for an increasingly globalized world and understand how social determinants of health in 1 country can affect populations residing thousands of miles away. Frenk and colleagues1 published recommendations from an independent global commission convened to develop ‘‘a shared vision and common strategy for postsecondary education in medicine, nursing, and public health that reaches beyond the confines of national borders and the silos of individual professions.’’(p5) These authors suggested that interprofessional global learning opportunities necessitate the redesigning of education in the health professions as a result of increased knowledge, global funding, advanced technology, and immigration of health professionals and their patients.1
Author Affiliations: Assistant Professor (Dr Dawson), School of Nursing, Department of Community Health, Outcomes and Systems, University of Alabama at Birmingham; Assistant Professor (Dr Gakumo), Department of Acute, Chronic and Continuing Care, University of Alabama at Birmingham; Assistant Professor (Dr Phillips), and Professor (Dr Wilson), Department of Community Health, Outcomes and Systems, University of Alabama at Birmingham. The authors declare no conflicts of interest. Correspondence: Dr Gakumo, 1720 2nd Ave S, Birmingham, AL 352941210 ([email protected]). Supplemental digital content is available for this article. Direct URL citations appear in the printed text and are provided in the HTML and PDF versions of this article on the journal’s Web site (www.nurseeducatoronline.com). Accepted for publication: May 30, 2015 Published ahead of print: July 9, 2015 DOI: 10.1097/NNE.0000000000000199
Nurse Educator
Nursing faculty members have exciting opportunities to refine nursing curricula to ensure that students are prepared to address emerging global health challenges and are also competent in global health. This article describes the process used by a group of nursing faculty members at a university school of nursing located in the southern United States to identify strategies to address the global-related goals that were identified in the school’s strategic plan (SP). The article focuses on the process and specific strategies that were used to map the curricula in the undergraduate and graduate programs in the school to determine the extent to which global health competencies for nurses were being addressed.
Background There is ongoing debate about the definition of global health. Koplan and colleagues2 compared the terms global health, international health, and public health and proposed that global health is ‘‘an area for study, research, and practice that places a priority on improving health and achieving equity in health for all people worldwide. Global health emphasizes transnational health issues, determinants, and solutions; involves many disciplines within and beyond the health sciences and promotes interdisciplinary collaboration; and is a synthesis of population based prevention with individuallevel clinical care.’’2(p1995) There is growing recognition of the need to integrate global health content into curricula of all health professions.1,3-5 The American Association of Colleges of Nursing Essentials outlines recommendations for baccalaureate, master’s, and doctor of nursing practice (DNP) curricula, and these documents all make reference to the importance of key global health concepts, although they do not identify specific global health competencies. For example, the Essentials for Baccalaureate Education in Nursing document6 suggests that baccalaureate curricula should include ‘‘concepts related to globalization and migration of populations.’’(p13) Other Essentials at that Volume 41 & Number 1 & January/February 2016
Copyright © 2015 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.
37
level address the importance of curriculum content that focuses on advocacy for social justice, health disparities, cultural humility, and emergency preparedness. The Essentials for Master’s Education specify the need to include content about ‘‘globalization and global health’’ under Essential VI (Health Policy and Advocacy).7 The Essentials for Doctoral Education for Advanced Nursing Practice8 include a recommendation that DNP graduates should be able to advocate for social justice and equity in health care and that DNP programs should prepare graduates to demonstrate leadership in development and implementation of ‘‘institutional, local, state, federal, and/or international health policy.’’(p14) A variety of strategies have been used to incorporate global health into health professional education including service learning; study-away programs; international clinical rotations; student and faculty exchanges; stand-alone global health courses; integrating global health content into existing courses; global partnerships in teaching, service, and research; and use of technology to promote student and faculty collaborations. Peluso et al9 noted that it is important to develop consensus on principles and competencies to guide the incorporation of global health into health professional curricula. There have been several recent initiatives to identify global health competencies that are needed by today’s health professionals, which might guide curricula for students in the health professions including medicine, nursing, and public health.10
