Program Objectives

FIPSE Objectives

· Promote mutual understanding between the peoples of the European Community and the United States, including broader knowledge of their languages, cultures, and institutions;
· Improve the quality of human resource development in both the European Community and the United States;
· Improve the quality of transatlantic student mobility, including the promotion of mutual understanding, recognition, and thus portability of academic credits;
· Encourage the exchange of expertise in new developments in higher education and vocational education and training--for example, the use of information technologies--for the mutual enrichment of practice in the European Community and the United States;
· Form or enhance partnerships among higher education, vocational education, or training institutions, professional associations, public authorities, businesses and other organizations as appropriate in both the European Community and the United States; and
· Introduce an added-value dimension to transatlantic cooperation which complements bilateral cooperation between member states of the European Community and the United States as well as other European Community and United States programs and initiatives in higher education and vocational training.

Program Goals

The Program Purpose

The need for nurses to acquire expertise in global health care, share knowledge beyond national boundaries and work interdisciplinary toward better health maintenance of families is addressed by this project.
This program is a response to the relative isolation in which nurses and other health care professionals practice in their particular home base. There is infrequent sharing of knowledge and lack of feedback from colleagues outside their own country.

The General Goals

· Produce nurse leaders who exhibit sensitivity to cultural differences and the uniqueness of health needs for differing populations.
· Promote an interdisciplinary, family-focused approach to health care.
· Develop of an advanced culturally-competent nursing role for the future that includes a clinical focus on the family as the unit of health care management.
· Educate graduate students who will serve as expert care providers, educators, patient advocates, researchers, and consultants to health care institutions.
· Institute beneficial changes in health care delivery on both sides of the Atlantic.
· Advocate for new models for culturally congruent health maintenance and preventive care

The Strategies

The strategies for mutually raising the consciousness of graduate nursing students and faculty about trends and developments in health care delivery in three European countries and three US states include:

· Cultural immersion through learning basic language skills and transatlantic e-mail discussions
· The development of web-based courses in module format
· Coursework and practical experience abroad for 5 exchange students from and to each university.
· A home-based contingency of students at each university who take the courses with focus on a partner country of choice.
· Final implementation of a change at home based on new ideas from abroad.