NSNA® Global Initiatives in Nursing Committee
SUMMER MEMO
To:
From:
Re:
Date:
NSNA Members interested in Global Nursing
Johanna Bridges, Director and Chair, Global Initiatives in Nursing
Committee
Think Globally, Act Locally
July 2015
Greetings NSNA Members!
The NSNA Global Initiatives in Nursing Committee met in June in NYC during the NSNA
Board of Directors Orientation and Board Meeting. In addition to myself as Chair, my
committee members are Jae Lim and Shawn Guerette. Our theme, Think Globally, Act
Locally, offers opportunities to take action in our own schools and communities to
enhance health globally.
I am delighted to inform you that, Emerging Infectious Diseases: Global Impact—Local
Consequence, will be presented as a general session at the upcoming MidYear Career
Planning Conference, November 5-8, 2015 in Atlanta, GA. As we learn more about this
important topic, we can bring the information back to our schools and engage our
classmates in learning about infection control. This topic is especially important as more
and more nursing students participate in mission trips, travel and work abroad.
One of our committee goals is to increase awareness of human trafficking—locally,
nationally and globally. Human trafficking is a complex problem. As nursing students
we may be exposed to this issue when we work in the community or in the acute care
setting. How can we help the victims of human trafficking and how can this form of
human slavery be abolished? There are several organizations working to inform as well
as take action on human trafficking. Here’s some links to get you started:
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime
https://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/human-trafficking/what-is-human-trafficking.html
Polaris Project—Freedom Happens Now
http://www.polarisproject.org/human-trafficking/overview
Humantrafficking.org
http://www.humantrafficking.org/
Youth of Tomorrow
http://www.youthfortomorrow.org/Girls-On-A-Journey-Program
Homeland Security—Blue Campaign—Resources for Victims
http://www.dhs.gov/blue-campaign/resources-available-victims
Another goal of the committee is to provide models for including global health issues in
undergraduate nursing curriculum. The 2015 House of Delegates passed a resolution
entitled: IN SUPPORT OF DEVELOPMENT OF UNDERGRADUATE NURSING PROGRAMS
WITH A FOCUS ON GLOBAL HEALTH LEADERSHIP. Informing undergraduate nursing
students about global health issues established the pipeline for future leadership in
global health. If there is a student seat available on your nursing program’s curriculum
committee, see if you can fill it! This is one of the best strategies for students to
participate in curriculum design. If there is a School of Public Health at your university,
find out what opportunities there are to work together. You can even offer a student
nurses association program on global health in collaboration with School of Public
Health. Here are a few web sites exemplifying integration of global health into nursing
curriculum or as second major, as well as scholarly articles on the subject.
Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing
http://nursing.jhu.edu/excellence/community/
New York University College of Nursing
https://nursing.nyu.edu/program/global-public-healthnursing-combined-major
An evidence-based curriculum to prepare students for global nursing practice
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16370253
Global Health in the Nursing Curriculum
https://www.ajj.com/sites/default/files/services/publishing/deansnotes/jan10.pdf
I look forward to hearing about your global health initiatives—at the local and global
levels. Remember to check out the NSNA Annual Awards information so that you are
ready to submit your projects and photos in time for the March 4, 2016 deadline.
Do not hesitate to contact me at directors@nsna.org if you have any questions or need
additional information on how to Think Globally and Act Locally!