International immersion programs in baccalaureate nursing education: professor and student perspectives

Abstract

This article presents the dual perspectives of professor and student in relation to the explicit need for nurses to become acutely conscious of cultural competence through self-awareness and how this influences nursing care. Mary Anne Levine, Professor of Nursing, discusses the development, planning, implementation, and evolution of the International Immersion Program (IIP) at Humboldt State University. The student experience, integration, and evaluation of IIP and its impact on one's professional and personal life are described by Elizabeth Perpetua, currently a practicing RN, who participated in the program in Nakhodka, Russia.