RESUMO
A survey was conducted among 110 Schools of Nursing in USA and 5 Schools in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) to identify the international health (IH) component in nursing education, practice and research. A significant part of U.S. schools and all 5 LAC schools have international activities, and this interest has started basically in the last 5 to 10 years. There was difference in the structure of IH activities among U.S. and LAC nursing schools, but they were similar in the type of support offered to IH initiatives. IH content in nursing education among U.S. schools was related to culture, health systems and community health; in LAC schools, IH content was related to health promotion, health policy and strategies and nursing perspectives. U.S. and LAC schools with international activities have only 10% of their faculty and students involved with IH initiatives. The nursing schools still lack courses and activities that the Schools of Public Health have implemented to deal with IH. The article observes areas that need to be strengthened so that nursing professionals can expand their leadership roles in research and practice in international health.
Assuntos
Currículo , Educação em Enfermagem/organização & administração , Saúde Global , Escolas de Enfermagem/organização & administração , Humanos , América Latina , Avaliação das Necessidades , Pesquisa em Educação em Enfermagem , Inquéritos e Questionários , Estados UnidosRESUMO
PURPOSE: To identify international health activities in United States, Latin American, and Caribbean schools of nursing. In the international community, nurses face challenges similar to those in related professions, but without the benefit of a long tradition. There is little research about how nursing education and associated activities prepare nurses to deal with international health, and little information about the extent of international health activities in U.S. schools of nursing. DESIGN: Descriptive. METHOD: Using a questionnaire with 16 items, a survey was conducted in 1995 on a random sample of representatives from 100 university schools of nursing in the United States plus 15 schools with known international activities (10 from the United States and 5 from Latin America and the Caribbean). FINDINGS: International health as a program topic was found in one-third of U.S. schools of nursing. However, nursing curriculums do not integrate international health with other subjects. Also, partnerships with foreign institutions are incipient and international health activities are usually individual initiatives with little institutional support. CONCLUSIONS: For nurses to become major contributors to international health, nursing curriculum content must shift from "international nursing" to "international health." Programs of nursing education should include study of social, economic, and political factors that affect health care systems. Schools should develop partnership agreements.