Abstract
Lack of collaborative relationships, teamwork, and respectful communication foster unhealthy work environments. To further equip nursing students with transferable skills to help them maintain healthy work environments as they transition into practice and as part of our commitment to global education, we organized psych-mental health nursing students from our university in the Midwest and a foreign university to collaborate in providing health teaching to 20 community members through a Global Classroom project.
The project was a funded foreign partner collaboration to encourage students and faculty pursue international knowledge and become engaged global citizens. The specific aim was to enhance the ability of nursing students to collaborate and communicate with peers and users of health services from the United States and Nigeria. This activity focused on substance-related and addictive disorders (SAD) which was one of several topics taught and assessed in the mental health course. Therefore, the activity also increased students’ knowledge of SAD and enabled them to analyze the interconnectedness of SAD across international borders.
In this project, 33 students were divided into seven groups. Each group explored one addictive drug, and tasks were divided among group members. The project was scaffolded into multiple steps that ended with a final oral presentation to over 70 virtual attendees from Canada, India, Nigeria, and USA. The key elements of collaboration (for example, trust, mutual respect, knowledge, good communication, shared responsibility, and cooperation) and respectful communication reinforced during this project are transferable throughout the students’ nursing career.
Intercultural communication and collaboration cannot be learned exclusively in the traditional classroom, hence, the need for innovative projects across international borders where students can interact with cultures foreign to them. As nursing students transition into the present work environment, they will encounter more people who speak languages other than their own. Therefore, nursing faculty are encouraged to incorporate global classroom projects aimed at improving nursing students' cultural competence and removing barriers that hinder healthy work environments.
Notes
Presenter notes available in attached slide deck.
Reference list included in attached slide deck.
Sigma Membership
Alpha
Type
Presentation
Format Type
Text-based Document
Study Design/Type
Other
Research Approach
Other
Keywords:
Diversity & Inclusion Policies, Nursing Education, Learning Environment, Teaching Methods, Nursing Students, Psychiatric Nursing, Global Studies
Recommended Citation
Obichi, Chidiebele Constance, "Diversifying Students’ Perception of Foreign Cultures Through the Global Classroom in Psych Mental Health Nursing" (2026). Creating Healthy Work Environments (CHWE). 84.
https://www.sigmarepository.org/chwe/2024/presentations_2024/84
Conference Name
Creating Healthy Work Environments
Conference Host
Sigma Theta Tau International
Conference Location
Washington, DC, USA
Conference Year
2024
Rights Holder
All rights reserved by the author(s) and/or publisher(s) listed in this item record unless relinquished in whole or part by a rights notation or a Creative Commons License present in this item record. All permission requests should be directed accordingly and not to the Sigma Repository. All submitting authors or publishers have affirmed that when using material in their work where they do not own copyright, they have obtained permission of the copyright holder prior to submission and the rights holder has been acknowledged as necessary.
Review Type
Abstract Review Only: Reviewed by Event Host
Acquisition
Proxy-submission
Date of Issue
2026-02-23
Diversifying Students’ Perception of Foreign Cultures Through the Global Classroom in Psych Mental Health Nursing
Washington, DC, USA
Lack of collaborative relationships, teamwork, and respectful communication foster unhealthy work environments. To further equip nursing students with transferable skills to help them maintain healthy work environments as they transition into practice and as part of our commitment to global education, we organized psych-mental health nursing students from our university in the Midwest and a foreign university to collaborate in providing health teaching to 20 community members through a Global Classroom project.
The project was a funded foreign partner collaboration to encourage students and faculty pursue international knowledge and become engaged global citizens. The specific aim was to enhance the ability of nursing students to collaborate and communicate with peers and users of health services from the United States and Nigeria. This activity focused on substance-related and addictive disorders (SAD) which was one of several topics taught and assessed in the mental health course. Therefore, the activity also increased students’ knowledge of SAD and enabled them to analyze the interconnectedness of SAD across international borders.
In this project, 33 students were divided into seven groups. Each group explored one addictive drug, and tasks were divided among group members. The project was scaffolded into multiple steps that ended with a final oral presentation to over 70 virtual attendees from Canada, India, Nigeria, and USA. The key elements of collaboration (for example, trust, mutual respect, knowledge, good communication, shared responsibility, and cooperation) and respectful communication reinforced during this project are transferable throughout the students’ nursing career.
Intercultural communication and collaboration cannot be learned exclusively in the traditional classroom, hence, the need for innovative projects across international borders where students can interact with cultures foreign to them. As nursing students transition into the present work environment, they will encounter more people who speak languages other than their own. Therefore, nursing faculty are encouraged to incorporate global classroom projects aimed at improving nursing students' cultural competence and removing barriers that hinder healthy work environments.
Description
Lack of collaborative relationships and respectful communication foster unhealthy environments. To equip students with transferable skills, we organized psych-mental health nursing students from a Midwestern university and a foreign university to collaborate in providing health promotion teaching to community members. The nursing educator shares a critical reflection following the project.