During Spring Break this year, while some students were parasailing in Puerto Vallarta or diving with dolphins in Xel‑Ha, 13 students and two faculty members from the College of Nursing were in Lima, Peru, providing primary nursing care to some of Peru’s poorest citizens.
Each year students and members of the nursing faculty travel abroad to take their nursing skills to those in need. These international healthcare mission trips have taken them to Ghana, Belize, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, and last year to the Dominican Republic to help some of the world’s most neglected populations.
Working with local healthcare providers, the group offers primary care and conducts community assessments. Assessments include home visits where the students and instructors offer education on nutrition and dietary needs, prenatal care, proper sanitation, safe food and water storage practices, and sanitary living conditions. They also conduct physical exams.
Though the strategy for these trips is much the same as for treating needy populations here in the U.S., the group’s biggest challenge is adapting to the cultural differences they face in these countries. While it can be distressing for students to see the levels of poverty that are often evident in developing countries, it’s important for them to step outside their home culture and environment and experience how other people live.
“Nurses today take care of patients from many cultures and backgrounds,” says Karen Lasater, clinical assistant professor in the college. “These patients have different communication styles, family structures, religious beliefs, personal values, dietary preferences, and biological variations. While each student in the nursing program is required to take a course to learn about varying cultural perspectives on health and illness, having them actively working in different kinds of communities is the best way to develop cultural competence and a global perspective. These are lessons you can’t learn in a classroom.
“Respecting the individuality of each patient and his or her family is crucial in developing the nurse–patient relationship,” Lasater concludes. “Through this relationship, the promotion of health can occur. During UT’s international trips, student nurses strengthen their cultural
GLOBALIZATION
The Study of the Arts of the Present, a newly formed international interdisciplinary academic society, held its inaugural conference at UT Knoxville. The conference brought together scholars from around the world to discuss how to revitalize contemporary arts studies and jump-start new arts research.
sensitivity and awareness. Incorporating this understanding into everyday care of patients, whether in a foreign country or back home, is vital to being a successful nurse.”
