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conferenceseries
.com
April 27-28, 2017 Las Vegas, USA
19
th
Global Nursing Education Conference
Volume 6, Issue 2 (Suppl)
J Nurs Care
ISSN: 2167-1168 JNC, an open access journal
Global Nursing Education 2017
April 27-28, 2017
International nursing education -Nursing in Haiti
Teresa Marshall
Tacoma Community College, USA
C
ultural competence and respect for others becomes especially important for us in nursing practice because we are patient
advocates. In school, we are taught to respect the rights and dignity of all patients. As the world becomes smaller and individuals
and societies become more mobile, we are increasingly able to interact with individuals from other cultures.
Diversity is part of the heritage of America. Other than the Native Americans, our ancestors were all immigrants from diverse
cultures. That diversity continues today and with the ease of travel the chance that you will encounter a patient from another culture
is very likely. Due to these factors, the development of cultural competence in nursing practice is important for us to provide the best
care possible. The first step is to become aware of other cultures and belief systems. Health care beliefs can be very different from
culture to culture and country to country. Without exposure to different beliefs and culture it can be difficult to understand patient’s
behavior.
One innovation in nursing education that addresses this need is global nursing immersions. Global immersions can provide
exposure to diverse cultures and better understanding of their beliefs. Over the last six years Ms. Marshall has taken teams of nurses
to Haiti to provide health education and training to village healthcare workers. The nurse’s exposure to this diverse culture changed
their nursing practice and better equipped them with the ability to understand and work within a different culture.
Biography
Teresa Marshall has lead medical teams to Haiti for the past six years. She has firsthand observed the cultural awareness that this experience has provided and
how it changes the practice of nursing in the participants. Ms. Marshall is currently serving as an undergrad nursing instructor at Tacoma Community College, and
a graduate clinical nursing instructor for Washington State University, and Gonzaga University. She has owned and operated her own independent nurse practice
in rural. Her experience as an instructor has provided insight into how students learn best.
tmarshall@tacomacc.eduTeresa Marshall, J Nurs Care 2017, 6:2 (Suppl)
http://dx.doi.org/10.4172/2167-1168-C1-043