Enacting global health in the nursing classroom

Globalization presents nurses with the challenges and an ethical responsibility of being competent caregivers within a global society. The link between globalization and global health, and the contributions nursing can make to the global health environment are described in the delivery of a new required course for undergraduate nursing students in a four year degree program. Innovative approaches for the delivery of this course are described, which even though living locally, can encourage nursing students to think globally. The need for nursing programs to acknowledge the shared responsibilities for examining global health challenges is now part of our reality in many countries.