Design of Educational Programs for Japanese Nurses Who Transfer Nursing Knowledge and Skill in Developing Countries

 Since the 1960s, Japanese nurses have been working as international nursing collaborators with or for the people in developing countries in order to promote health through transferring nursing knowledge and skill. However a number of nurses reported that they did not have enough competencies as international nursing collaborators. The objectives of this study were: a) to describe the experiences of Japanese international nursing collaborators whose mission was transferring nursing knowledge and skill and b) to determine their learning needs as international collaborators, and to design educational programs (graduate program) based on the results of survey. The participants of this study were twenty-seven nurses who had had an international collaborative mission and stayed in a developing country for more than one year. Semi-structured group or individual interviews were used in order to describe activities process and leaning needs as international collaborators. The interview data were analyzed using content analysis from the viewpoint of competency and learning needs. Nurses reported needs in two major areas: Fundamental Competences and Knowledge, and Required Competences for Development of International Collaborative Tasks. Fundamental Competences and Knowledge consisted of nine components: (1) cross-cultural experiences, (2) acceptance of cultural differences, (3) professional experience, (4) degree and qualifications, (5) philosophy of nursing, (6) language, (7) interdisciplinary knowledge for international cooperation activities, (8) knowledge about own project, and (9) knowledge on theories of international cooperation. Required Competences for Development of International Collaborative Tasks consisted of thirty components which were divided into four phases (personal competences, preparation and planning phase, implementation phase, and after project.) Based on the result of this survey the investigators designed the international nursing graduate program. The program has started from the academic year of 2005 at the investigators' college. The progress of students' learning and outcomes of these educational programs should be monitored using formative evaluation.