Abstract
Creating global classroom initiatives are incredibly important for future health care providers as they enter a rapidly changing and complex health care environment as demonstrated by the recent pandemic. Global classroom initiatives promote student readiness to become global citizens. This presentation will describe an international academic experience between a school of nursing in the Midwestern United States and a school of nursing in the United Kingdom. The goal was to add an international dimension to a senior level community health nursing didactic course (USA) and a baccalaureate nursing honors course (UK) without leaving their campuses. Both courses focused on the social determinants of health model and how workplace environment and economic disparities affect vulnerable populations. The goal was for students from both countries to develop an understanding of the United Kingdom’s Universal Health Care Program and the United States’ Affordable Care Act, Medicare, Medicaid, and Private Health Insurance Programs. During the semester, students examined how payment for health services intersect with social determinants of health to impact health outcomes. Students engaged in course prework and met via zoom on two occasions. The students stated that this experience allowed them to view the differences in both countries’ health care practices through a social determinants of health lens. An added benefit was that the students discussed differences in each country’s nursing licensure requirements as well as in their schools of nursing admission criteria and academic curriculum. Baccalaureate nursing faculty and senior nursing students’ reflections of this global classroom initiative will be discussed while offering suggestions to further improve the international experience.
Notes
References:
Barr, D. A. (2019). Health disparities in the United States: Social class, race, ethnicity, and the social determinants of health (3rd ed.). John Hopkins.
Clarke, R. (2020). Dear life: A doctor’s story of love and loss. New York: Thomas Dunn Books.
Dimitreiska, V. (2024). Global Classroom Initiative. IU Global Education. https://global.iu.edu/education/internationalization/classroom/index.html
Makary, M. (2019). The price we pay: What broke American health care—and how to fix it. Bloomsbury.
Marmot, M. (2016). The health gap. Bloomsbury Publishing PLC. (a seminal work)
Marmot, M. G. & Wilkerson, R. G. (2006). Social determinants of health. (2nd ed.). Oxford University Press. (a seminal work)
Thomas, R. K. (2021). Population health and the future of healthcare. Springer Nature Link.
Sigma Membership
Alpha
Type
Presentation
Format Type
Text-based Document
Study Design/Type
Other
Research Approach
Translational Research/Evidence-based Practice
Keywords:
Health Equity or Social Determinants of Health, Public and Community Health, Curriculum Development
Recommended Citation
Decker, Kim Alexander, "Lessons Learned: Creation of a Global Classroom Initiative" (2025). International Nursing Research Congress (INRC). 251.
https://www.sigmarepository.org/inrc/2025/presentations_2025/251
Conference Name
36th International Nursing Research Congress
Conference Host
Sigma Theta Tau International
Conference Location
Seattle, Washington, USA
Conference Year
2025
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.
Review Type
Abstract Review Only: Reviewed by Event Host
Acquisition
Proxy-submission
Lessons Learned: Creation of a Global Classroom Initiative
Seattle, Washington, USA
Creating global classroom initiatives are incredibly important for future health care providers as they enter a rapidly changing and complex health care environment as demonstrated by the recent pandemic. Global classroom initiatives promote student readiness to become global citizens. This presentation will describe an international academic experience between a school of nursing in the Midwestern United States and a school of nursing in the United Kingdom. The goal was to add an international dimension to a senior level community health nursing didactic course (USA) and a baccalaureate nursing honors course (UK) without leaving their campuses. Both courses focused on the social determinants of health model and how workplace environment and economic disparities affect vulnerable populations. The goal was for students from both countries to develop an understanding of the United Kingdom’s Universal Health Care Program and the United States’ Affordable Care Act, Medicare, Medicaid, and Private Health Insurance Programs. During the semester, students examined how payment for health services intersect with social determinants of health to impact health outcomes. Students engaged in course prework and met via zoom on two occasions. The students stated that this experience allowed them to view the differences in both countries’ health care practices through a social determinants of health lens. An added benefit was that the students discussed differences in each country’s nursing licensure requirements as well as in their schools of nursing admission criteria and academic curriculum. Baccalaureate nursing faculty and senior nursing students’ reflections of this global classroom initiative will be discussed while offering suggestions to further improve the international experience.
Description
The purpose of this presentation is to describe a global classroom initiative between a Midwestern United States and a United Kingdom school of nursing. Students from both schools examined how payment for health services intersect with social determinants of health to impact health outcomes. Baccalaureate nursing faculty and senior nursing students’ reflections of this global classroom initiative will be discussed while offering suggestions to further improve the international experience.