Partnering for health
Nurse anesthesia students participate in first-of-its-kind transnational health assessment simulation
May 2, 2025
First-year nurse anesthesia students had the opportunity to participate in a first-of-its-kind transnational health assessment simulation with peers from the University of Iceland. The simulation, held in November, was the result of ongoing engagement between the programs led by Joanne Donnelly, DNP, APRN, CRNA, FAANA, from the University of Minnesota, and Thorunn Scheving Eliasdottir, PhD, CRNA, from the University of Iceland.
“Formalizing global partnerships is imperative for advanced-prepared registered nurse anesthetists in today’s practice in order to enhance and ensure graduate educational competencies addressing health challenges,” says Donnelly, Marie Manthey Professor in Innovation Practices. “International partnerships are particularly important for nurse anesthesia programs as they support a more comprehensive, culturally sensitive, and globally aware approach to nurse anesthesia education and practice.”
While the University of Minnesota and University of Iceland established formal collaboration more than 40 years ago, the current collaboration between the nurse anesthesia programs gained momentum when Donnelly and Eliasdottir met at a national meeting of nurse anesthesia faculty a few years ago.
They’ve since visited each other’s schools, co-created a symposium to develop methods of collaboration, and completed a wellness initiative together.
The purpose of the transnational partnership is to augment student registered nurse anesthetists’ professional and personal growth, exchange ideas and share best practices.
“The partnership is particularly beneficial for a small nurse anesthesia program like the University of Iceland, as it fosters open-mindedness and innovative approaches in education and professional development,” says Eliasdottir. “Despite geographical and cultural differences, residents of nurse anesthesia programs share similar experiences with various integral stress factors inherent in educational settings. The opportunity for cross-cultural mentorship allows students to exchange their experiences and gain valuable insight into the similarities and differences in their education as advanced health care professionals.”
During the health assessment simulation, University of Minnesota students were onsite in Minneapolis, while University of Iceland students connected over Zoom. The aim was to enhance students’ competency-based skills related to preoperative history-taking and clinical examinations of anesthesia patients.
The students conducted an assessment on a standardized patient that was presented to the anesthesia provider in advance of surgery. During the debrief, the differences between the health systems in the United States and Iceland were apparent as questions came up about how to optimize the patient for the safest experience.
Students will be exploring those differences between health systems during a Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) visit in May in Iceland, and they anticipate facilitating additional transnational telemedicine simulations in the future.
“It was an incredible experience,” says Donnelly.
Partnering for health is a recurring feature that highlights a school partnership working to advance health care to improve the health and wellbeing of all.
