Applying Credit Hours to International Clinical Placements for Baccalaureate Nursing Programs

As global learning programs gain momentum in nursing education, a variety of models have emerged. A typical experience consists of 1-week international immersion in which faculty, nursing students, and an interprofessional team deliver direct health care to impoverished communities. Our international clinical placements have been successful in providing rich learning experiences while applying clinical credit hours toward required courses in our baccalaureate nursing program.

The unique attributes of these international clinical placements include full integration into the curriculum, use of formative and summative clinical evaluations, participation across specialties and life span in one experience, an interprofessional practice setting, and consistent design and standards across programs.

By integrating the experiences into the curriculum and maximizing credit hours applied, the international experiences fulfill clinical placements and develop the students' personal and professional goals.

These innovative strategies of international clinical placements have been successful in meeting student, program, and community needs. [J Nurs Educ. 2019;58(12):733-735.].