The School of Nursing welcomed students and faculty members from Tokyo Healthcare University on March 17 to a cultural and inter-professional exchange. The collaboration has been ongoing since 2012. Assistant professor and simulation coordinator Jeanette Peterson was the lead faculty member this year and facilitated the simulation event. She has been involved with the intercultural experience since the beginning, providing a high-quality simulation lab experience for the visiting students.
This year, 23 Tokyo Healthcare students participated. Their disciplines included health Informatics, clinical nutrition, and nursing. Peterson developed a scenario in which the visiting student nurses in all three disciplines could participate and learn about best practices with simulation. She and the Tokyo Healthcare faculty have collaborated since last October on the scenario.
“The interaction between students from both schools is more than a cultural exchange and learning about nursing in each of their cultures,” said Edna Magpantay-Monroe, chief nursing administrator and associate professor at the School of Nursing at Chaminade University. “Nursing as a profession has really looked at global health education, and this interaction provides for global health education. When nursing students in any part of the world understand cultural literacy, they can provide patient-centered care anywhere.”
The visiting students completed their simulation experience totally in Japanese, which took place in the E.L. Wiegand Simulation Suite. The Tokyo Healthcare faculty acted as patients and also observed the performance rubric. Learning objectives focused on principles of inter-professional communication. The visiting faculty with Peterson’s assistance debriefed the students in Japanese.
Student volunteers from Chaminade’s School of Nursing assisted the visiting group with skills, labs and equipment needed for the simulation. The students from both nursing schools also participated in a cultural exchange, listened to planned speakers and shared a meal together. Chaminade student Jaimee Sambrano, scheduled to graduate in 2019 with a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Nursing, served as the lead planner for Chaminade’s School of Nursing.“This event promoted student collaboration and leadership and increased our cultural awareness,” Sambrano said.
Yuka Garo, Clinical Credentialing assistant with Chaminade’s School of Nursing said, “I personally believe that this partnership benefits both Tokyo Healthcare University and Chaminade University nursing students to better understand the dynamic of interpersonal communication and its importance.”
The School of Nursing is a four year, full-time undergraduate program that offers a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree. The unique program immerses students in nursing preparation with educational curriculum, human-patient simulations, community outreach projects, and service-learning and supervised clinical experiences. The curriculum for our undergraduates program is consistent with the Baccalaureate Essentials of Nursing produced by the American Association of Collegiate Nursing. The nursing program is fully accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education.
