Emergence Technologies: Promoting global citizenship and leadership through developing an international module through the use of technology

International Conference on Nursing & Emergency Medicine

December 02-04, 2013 Hampton Inn Tropicana, Las Vegas, NV, USA

Sharon Elizabeth Metcalfe

Scientific Tracks Abstracts: J Nurs Care

Abstract :

Healthcare professionals increasingly need to work in culturally diverse and global environments. Technology enhanced learning offers opportunities for collaborative learning including the ability to communicate with colleagues regardless of geographic location. The use of Web 2.0 technologies such as the Wiki enables students to make global connections. This presentation will discuss a pilot project which consisted of three international schools of nursing programs, from the United States America (USA), Finland and Scotland, which shared Wiki online web sites for discussion of mutual nursing issues and leadership development. A total of 22 students were enrolled in the program with a mix of students from both undergraduate and post-graduate programs. A mixed method research design was used to assess the global leadership development of the students using quantitative surveys and collection of testimonials for qualitative content analysis. The quantitative survey results demonstrated high levels of global leadership development through the nursing students? satisfaction with having the ability to discuss international health care issues with peers. Four key themes of broadening leadership development emerged from the qualitative data: learning together to be leaders, widening horizons, developing autonomy, and learning beyond boundaries. Qualitative data will be presented through the use of a collection of students testimonials which capture the personal experiences for individual students. Utilizing technology such as Web 2.0 has the ability to break down geographic barriers and allow nursing educators to collaborate to potentiate the development of future nursing leaders to meet the health care challenges with today?s world.

Biography :

Sharon Metcalfe is an Associate Professor of Nursing at Western Carolina University and a Visiting Professor at Napier University in Edinburgh, Scotland. Her scholarly research has been focused on mentoring of nurse leaders and international collaborative nursing mentoring. She has published fourteen peer reviewed articles in nursing and international healthcare journals and serves as a peer reviewer for nursing journals.