A Canada-Bangladesh partnership for nurse education: case study

To describe the lessons learned from a partnership in nurse education between a Bangladesh university and a group of Canadian volunteers.

In the host country, nursing enjoys low status and pay, which adversely affect professional standards.

The paper describes implementation details of training a core of nurses to international standards, using limited resources. The first cohort received their Bachelor of Nursing degrees in 2009.

The Bangladeshi partners benefit from access to up-to-date curriculum materials, current clinical expertise, and interaction with visiting faculty and students. The Canadian nursing instructors enjoy professional development opportunities; visiting Canadian students gain exposure to a practice setting in a low-income country.

These include the importance of (1) integrating nurse training with a general university able to provide core courses (e.g. English as second language, computer training), (2) countering the low status of nursing and inculcating a caring attitude among students, and (3) instilling critical thinking as opposed to rote learning. Next, the following were identified: mechanisms to support networking in the local health system, sharing of resources (e.g. electronic course material adapted to host country context), and assuring programme quality.

The paper will be of interest to those concerned with nurse education and human resource development in less developed countries.