Strengthening global partnerships

The School of Nursing continues to expand its network of global relationships with recent visits that support new and renewed partnerships. This summer, Dean Connie White Delaney, PhD, RN, FAAN, FACMI, FNAP, and Director of Global Health Carolyn Porta, PhD, MPH, RN, FAAN, traveled to the University of Rwanda for an agreement signing. That signing comes after signings and additional relationship-building activities in Thailand, Taiwan and Vietnam earlier this year.

The global partnerships are critical to the success of the school’s overarching vision of a world where nurses lead collaborative efforts to attain optimal health for all people. The school’s global priorities include research collaboration, doctoral student recruitment, and strengthening student and faculty cultural appreciation through exchange.

“At the core of these partnerships are relationships. It is through relationships that we have potential to grow in our understanding and appreciation of diverse beliefs, behaviors, ideas and solutions,” said Porta. “Our global relationships remind us that the world is a small place, that desire for health and wellbeing is universal and that with privilege comes responsibility.”

In the last school year, five global experiences were offered to students with partners in Cuba, Guatemala Iceland, Ireland and Uganda. The school also hosted a visiting scholar from the University of Rwanda, Alice Nyirazigama.

“Global experiences like these have the potential to encourage exchange of cultural knowledge, contextualize understanding of health and wellbeing, and build relationships among faculty and students,” said Porta.