Ten Filipino nurses arrive in Columbus for masters degree, academic and clinical training at Capital University and OhioHealth hositals; Four and a half year program will improve healthcare in Ohio and the Philippines
Columbus, Ohio (PRWEB) June 8, 2005 -- Global Scholarship Alliance (GSA) today announced that 10 foreign nurse-scholars have arrived in the United States for an innovative cultural exchange program offered in partnership with GSA, Capital University and OhioHealth. The group was welcomed to Ohio during a private meeting with Ohio Governor Bob Taft. The GSA scholarship program is designed to help ease the worldwide nursing crisis by producing the next generation of nurse leaders and educators. The 10 GSA nurse-scholars from the Philippines will pursue Masters of Science in Nursing (MSN) degrees at Capital University in Columbus.
The nurse-scholar participants in GSA?s program receive full MSN scholarships to Capital University and are eligible to gain clinical experience at OhioHealth?s three hospitals, Doctors Hospital, Grant Medical Center and Riverside Methodist Hospital, during the period of study. The four and a half year program combines intense academic study at an American university with part-time clinical experience in partner hospitals. Upon completion of the program, and after contributing to the healthcare system locally, the GSA nurse-scholars are required to return to their home countries for at least two years, where they will lead and train the next generation of nurses as clinical instructors, nurse leaders, or hospital administrators.
?Our school is opposed to foreign nurse staffing models, and the negative impact they have on developing countries,? commented Dr. Elaine Haynes, dean of the school of nursing at Capital University. ?Global Scholarship Alliance?s education program is based on a compelling social mission to improve nursing globally. It offers U.S. hospitals a unique opportunity to enhance their nursing programs responsibly with diverse students, while contributing to the healthcare system of a country on the other side of the world. These nurses will earn their masters degrees and gain experience in a first world health system and then return home better educated and more capable of improving the health of their own communities. The partnership between GSA , Capital University, and OhioHealth supports our mission to educate professional nurse leaders for lives of service promoting health and healing in our diverse communities.?
GSA?s program will also help OhioHealth hospitals achieve their goal of maintaining safe nurse-patient ratios, and increasing staff diversity and continuity of care by reducing dependency on staffing agency nurses. The hospitals will achieve these objectives without displacing positions that would otherwise go to Ohio nurses.
Ensuring Quality
The Global Scholarship Alliance selection process, which adheres to United States nursing standards, ensures that only first-rate nurses are accepted into the program. GSA carefully evaluates educational transcripts, licensing board scores, work histories and clinical experiences, references, and background checks. Prospective nurse-scholars are required to possess a baccalaureate degree in nursing (a bachelor of science in nursing or an equivalent degree), a registered nursing license in their home country, two or more years of hospital experience, and must also pass the U.S. nursing exam, as well as a language proficiency exam. The nurse-scholars are then personally selected by representatives from the universities and hospitals through face-to-face interviews in the nurse?s home country. Those selected must also meet U.S. licensing and immigration requirements before arriving in America.
?Many Americans are unaware that the nursing shortage is actually a global crisis,? stated Ty Nelson, GSA?s executive vice president of operations. ?The staffing industry?s method of one-way recruiting from foreign countries to the United States and other developed countries is not sustainable and negatively impacts patient care delivery in those developing countries.?
?One of the biggest problems created by staffing solutions is the dramatic decline in the quality of healthcare in foreign countries,? commented Linda Wagner, director of employee education at OhioHealth. ?International staffing companies regularly recruit nurses to the United States permanently. While it helps the situation here, it makes matters worse in other countries like India and the Philippines. GSA?s program, educates the world?s nurses, helps ease the nursing shortage and improve continuity of healthcare in the United States, and strengthens healthcare systems in other countries. At OhioHealth we have four key values: Compassion, Excellence, Stewardship, and Integrity. GSA?s program helps us realize all of them.?
?Global Scholarship Alliance represents a coordinated effort to improve nursing here at home and around the world,? stated J. William Deville, chief executive officer at Global Scholarship Alliance. ?By partnering with GSA in this worthy cause, our university and hospital partners are making a statement about the solid values of their institutions. What we offer is a long-term, financially sound, sustainable and socially responsible solution to the problem.?