Teaching Community Health Nursing in the Developing World

Abstract

The importance of providing nursing students with clinical experiences that enhance their worldview has been recognized in the literature and by nursing organizations. With the increasing diversity of cultures and populations in the world, there is widespread agreement of the need for nurses to have knowledge of global health care systems and nursing care delivery in other countries and to become more culturally competent practitioners. This article will describe an under-graduate senior community health clinical practicum in urban Managua, Nicaragua. Through their workin the health clinics, homes, and community of their assigned families, the students in this transcultural practicum experience the challenges of living and working in a developing country with a challenging health care system, extreme poverty, and limited resources. Not surprisingly, the pretrip perceptions of the students were altered during this life-changing experience.