Nursing Outlook
Volume 54, Issue 3 , Page 122, May 2006

Letter to the Editor

Professor, University of Kansas School of Nursing, Kansas City, KS

Article Outline

 

To the editor:

In connection with the January/February 2005 issue of Nursing Outlook, the International section, may I offer some comments related to 2 articles.

The first article is International Collaboration for Developing Graduate Education in China by Sherwood G & Liu H (2005). I wish to make a historical footnote on the role of the China Medical Board (CMB) of New York on the development of nursing education in the first university-based nursing education program of another developing country, the Philippines. In 1948, a Bachelor of Science (BSN) program at the University of the Philippines College of Nursing (UPCN) was established, with support from CMB and other sources such as the Rockefeller Foundation and the International Cooperation Administration (ICA), among others. The concept of such a school was the master’s thesis at the University of Chicago of the founding Dean, Julita Villaruel Sotejo, RN, GN, LL.B, MSc, LL.D honoris causa, a recipient of the ICN Florence Nightingale Medal in 1961. My historical comments are based on her biography.1 In the book, examples of the role of CMB at the UPCN are:

In 1957–58, CMB funded the 3-month visit of Miss Agnes Gelinas, past president of the National League of Nursing, to evaluate 4 UPCN programs: BSN, post-hospital BSN degree, a 1-year certificate in community health nursing, and a newly-established Master of Arts (Nursing) program.1 Other consultants were similarly sponsored by CMB, while at the same time funding UPCN educational resources (eg, a library, nursing “arts” teaching laboratories, etc.) and a development program for faculty to pursue masters degrees in nursing in the United States and other countries.1 The UPCN master’s program subsequently prepared nurses to teach at baccalaureate schools of nursing across the country.

Some of the long-term “outcomes” of the above endeavors may be gleaned partly in a chapter published in the 1988 issue of the Annual Review of Nursing Research.2 The chapter itself was based on a book published in 1980, Nursing Research in the Philippines: a Sourcebook.3

The second article on which I wish to comment is International Nursing Research and Educational Exchanges: A Review of the Literature by McAuliffe MS & Cohen MZ (2005). This review is laudable and very informative to readers and those engaged in international scholarly activities. The key words used to locate the publications cited in the review were: international educational exchange, exchange programs, and nursing education. The authors further stated that “publications in which nurses have written about collaborative international research projects, sabbaticals, and consultancies were beyond the scope of the review, and thus were excluded.” Yet they conclude: “Exchanges between developed and developing countries will be most useful when the topics they address are identified by nurses from developing countries and they are involved in all aspects of the research and educational processes, including publications.”

Nurses have participated in Fulbright exchanges in the past and have published studies done during these exchanges. Examples are listed below.4, 5, 6, 7 Perhaps, a review of these excluded publications may be a good report by the authors in the future.

Back to Article Outline

References 

  1. Tungpalan LB . Action Oriented Leadership and J.V. Sotejo (a Biography) . Quezon City, Philippines: Soller Press; 2001;
  2. Williams PD . Nursing research in the Philippines. Annual Review of Nursing Research . Vol. 6. New York, NY: Springer; 1988; p. 263–91
  3. Williams PD . Nursing Research in the Philippines (a Sourcebook) . Quezon City, Philippines: JMC Press; 1980;
  4. Williams PD , Williams AR , Lopez M , Tayko N . Mothers’ developmental expectations for young children in the Philippines . Int J Nurs Stud . 2000;37:291–301
  5. Williams PD , Soetjiningsih  , Williams AR . Balinese mothers’ developmental timetables for young children . West J Nurs Res . 2000;22:69–87
  6. Williams PD , Piamjariyakul U , Williams AR , Homboonherm P , Meena P , Channukool N , et al.   Thai mothers and children and the HOME Inventory . Int J Nurs Stud . 2003;40:249–258
  7. Monteflor MO, Williams AR, Williams PD, Go NO, Moriarty JP, Quiñones HW, et al. Parent Motivation Strategies and the Performance of Preschoolers in a Rural Philippine Municipality. Early Childhood Education Journal 2006. Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10643-005-0035-1.

PII: S0029-6554(06)00085-6

doi:10.1016/j.outlook.2006.03.001

Nursing Outlook
Volume 54, Issue 3 , Page 122, May 2006

Article Tools