Creating an Innovative Global Health Clinical Experience During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Area of Science:

• Nursing Education
• Global Health
• Public Health

Background:

• The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted international travel, necessitating changes to global health education.
• Traditional in-person global health clinical experiences were no longer feasible for nursing students.
• Maintaining educational objectives and a global health perspective was a key challenge.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe the process of transitioning an in-person global health clinical experience to a virtual format.
• To ensure the virtual experience met established learning objectives.
• To provide nursing students with a valuable global health learning opportunity without requiring international travel.

Main Methods:

• The study details the transformation of a traditional in-person clinical experience into a virtual one.
• Methods focused on adapting curriculum and learning activities for remote delivery.
• Emphasis was placed on maintaining the core components of a global health perspective.

Main Results:

• The virtual global health experience successfully met learning objectives.
• Students gained a global health perspective through the adapted format.
• The virtual format provided a rich learning opportunity without the need for travel.

Conclusions:

• Virtual global health experiences are a viable alternative to in-person clinicals.
• This innovative approach allows for continued global health education.
• Virtual experiences can effectively prepare nursing students to understand population health globally.