Do No Harm: Best Practices and Tools to Develop Global Health Experiences for Nursing Students

Nurses are strong social justice advocates who often serve the most marginalized communities. Nursing has responded to social changes and globalization by developing into a multifaceted profession that integrates cultural competency, education, empathy, advocacy, and interdisciplinary collaboration. However, throughout its growth as a profession, the guiding principles of nursing have remained consistent, foremost among them being nonmaleficence – or do no harm. Nursing schools across the United States are responding to the need to develop cultural competency and are offering innovative ways for students to build their skills and experiences through international nursing experiences. This is a positive trend, as research demonstrates that international experiences benefit nursing students’ personal and professional development. However, ethical challenges exist, primarily regarding the positive or negative impact a student experience has on the host community. Poorly planned and executed international experiences for nursing students have been shown to destabilize local health systems, undermine local providers, and displace local economies. Therefore nurse educators should balance the academic needs of their students against the health and development needs of host communities. Nurse education does not include substantial experience in program design for international efforts. However, the fields of international development and public health share the principle of nonmaleficence and have established best practices for program design to mitigate and prevent unintended adverse consequences on host communities. By incorporating best practices from international development and public health, nurse educators can better develop ethically sound international experiences for their students, develop nurses with greater cultural competency, and best support the development of host communities.Bachelor of Scienc