Salve hosting Egyptian nursing students for observational tour
Twelve aspiring nursing students from Egypt are taking part in a two-week observational study tour hosted by Salve Regina at the request of the Institute of International Education.
The study tour is part of the LOTUS scholarship program, which is funded by the United States Agency for International Development with the support of the American people. LOTUS offers comprehensive scholarship packages to talented and deserving Egyptian students with a demonstrated financial need to obtain degrees from Egyptian private universities. Students are selected based on their potential to play a leadership role in areas of high demand that are critical to Egypt’s development.
This year’s study tour included two weeks of English language training at the University of Kentucky, followed by two weeks of nursing education at Salve Regina. While at the University, students have visited a wide array of medical facilities and health care organizations, including Hope Hospice, PACE, Hasbro Children’s Hospital, Women and Infants Hospital, Planned Parenthood, Newport Hospital and the Newport Health Equity Zone.
The visits have been augmented by lectures and demonstrations by a host of Salve nursing faculty and organization representatives on a wide range of advanced nursing topics, including community mental health, genetics and health histories, holistic health, newborn health, cardiology and triage and disaster response. In addition, the students are exploring concepts of culture and communication as well as culture’s impact on perceptions of current events across borders.
“This program has been a wonderful opportunity to share the concepts of nursing practice, leadership and professionalism that are adhered to in the United States,” said Dr. Debra Grosskurth, chairwoman of the Department of Nursing. “The students have been amazing. They are extremely intelligent, engaged and enthusiastic to learn. As the students are learning about various nursing practices in the United States, they have been eager to share how nursing practice is performed in Egypt. This has been a wonderful multicultural experience, and it has been an honor to host this program.”
The program is a collaboration between the Office of International Programs and the Department of Nursing and was supported by faculty from the departments of Cultural, Environmental and Global Studies and English and Communications.
