International service learning enhances nurse practitioner students' practice and cultural humility

Academic and health care institutions are charged with improving quality-of-care outcomes by creating culturally educated health care professionals to practice in a global health care environment. International short-term service learning experiences provide nurse practitioner students an opportunity to meet clinical competency skills aligned with course curricula. Faculty can directly observe students' clinical practice, and students broaden diagnostic reasoning skills while earning credit for clinical hours. As project and research ideas are formulated, students develop system-level thinking to implement evidence-based practices and disseminate their knowledge and experience of caring for the underserved. Students who participate in service-learning opportunities foster their awareness of cultural humility, easing transition into practice. Some academic institutions established short-term service-learning opportunities for students, and evidence supports faculty and students' sense of well-being after participation. We describe an example of a short-term, international service-learning opportunity in Haiti where students work with an interprofessional team and experience the effect of social determinants of health on delivering quality care.