College of Nursing

International Programs

Faculty-led Service Learning Opportunities


Ecuador 2008

Dates: January 10 to January 21
Cost: $1,000.00 to $1,200.00 depending on airline costs.

There is a great need for health care in the Amazon Basin of Ecuador. You will be traveling to remote villages to provide care to indigenous tribal people. The work is strenuous with long hours (10-16), but the rewards are tremendous. It is an exciting adventure into diversities of culture. Each trip ends with shopping in Quito. The trip involves moving from village to village seeing people who have limited access to care. Food and lodging are provided.

Requirements: I need 3 FNP /div> students who have had a minimum of 2 semesters of clinical practice and 2 RNB or BSN students (3rd or 4th semester) who are Spanish-speaking. Preference will be given to Spanish speaking FNP students for this trip. The Spanish speaking RNB or BSN students must be fluent and able to translate for the FNP students. The trip will help you with team building skills, move you to more autonomous practice, and improve your Spanish.

Students are also required to fill out an application form and submit it to schumann@wsu.edu.

Students who have been accepted for International trips are required to fill out paper work for WSU and pay a $75.00 fee. Contact Margaret Ruby at mruby@wsu.edu for the WSU forms.

All students must obtain approval from their course faculty in order to negotiate make-up of course work and permission to use the clinical hours for your course work.

 Additional costs:
  International Student Identity Card
$22.00
  Airport Tax $38.00
  Housing $60.00

Peru 2008

Dates: More information will be available Oct 5, 2007

Peru Trip  Presentation (video stream)

COURSE:
Nurs 498 - Nursing Care in Peru (3 credits)

TUITION - $882.00  ($294 per credit x 3 credits)

Financial aid available if registered for 6 or more credits.

PROGRAM FEE - $1900 - $2293
Includes in-country travel, board, and room.
accommodations, and meals.

ADDITIONAL COSTS:
EA Application Fee
$125
Passport (if needed)
$100
International Student Identity Card
$22
Airfare from Spokane
$1000 estimated
Aiport Exit Taxis
$30 estimated
Immunizations:
 
  Yellow fever
$100
  Typhoid (recommended)
$
  Malaria Prophylaxis
$10 to $100
(Depending on what you choose)
 
Personal Spending Money

DESTINATION:
Iquitos (14-16 days) and Cuzco (4 days)

PROGRAM
This course provides an experience in global community health nursing in the Amazon region of Peru. Students will apply assessment skills in planning and implementing nursing care to individuals and communities. The program will provide an excellent opportunity to analyze
the cultural, social, environmental, and economic factors that can infl uence health care. Field trips will include a visit to the Sacred Valley of the Machu Picchu ruins nested on the eastern slopes of the Vilcanota mountain range and the Sacred Valley.

FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Carol Allen carola@wsu.edu
Deborah Swain swain@wsu.edu
Laura Hahn hahn@wsu.edu

Download Brochure
Download Basic Information Sheet

 

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Other International Programs

Iwate Exchange Program: An ICN Co-sponsored International Study/Practice

Iwate Students and Host Families

During the first week in March 2005 Washington State University Intercollegiate College of Nursing in relationship with Eastern Washington University’s English Language Institute provided a study tour for 10 students from Iwate University, Morioka Japan. The Japanese nursing students spent a week living with a host family and experiencing what nursing is like in the United States. A third exchange is planned for late February 2006.

During their time at ICN, the Japanese students were able to spend time in both the clinical setting and the large classroom setting. The Japanese students unanimously described their time in the clinical and classroom setting as the most significant learning experiences of the tour. Many students commented on the teamwork they observed among American nurses, nursing students, and the rest of the health care team.

Iwate students discuss clinical experiences with the downtown community health ICN clinical students

The Iwate exchange also added significantly to the learning of the ICN students, who had the opportunity to meet the Iwate students either in the clinical setting or in the larger classroom setting. Several ICN students were asked what the most important thing they learned from their interaction with the Iwate students. These students commented on the difficulty that they had communicating with non-native English speakers; the importance of speaking more slowly and of having translators available to their non-English speaking patients. Students also noted that there were differences in health care systems. For example US nurses have more autonomy than nurses in Japan and nurses in the US have a more collaborative relationship with practicing nurses and with physicians. The ICN students also learned a great deal about Japanese cultural practices which included child rearing practices, birth practices, and their views of mental illness.

Iwate students and faculty tour SHMC Children's Hospital

Maria McDonough, an S-2, summarized it best when she said “I learned how different the world is and how much we can learn from those who visit us almost as much as we would learn from visiting them”

For information on how you can be involved in working with and learning from the Japanese students or to be a host family contact Carol Allen.


More Information

This is an excellent article on Medical Ethics that you should read if you are thinking of participating in a medical mission.
A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing? A Closer Look at Medical Tourism

 

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