Ohio Governor Bob Taft Welcomes Foreign Nurses to Capital University and OhioHealth
Ten Filipino nurses arrive in Columbus for masters degree, academic and clinical training at Capital University and OhioHealth hositals; Four and a half year program will improve healthcare in Ohio and the Philippines
Columbus, Ohio (PRWEB) June 8, 2005 -- Global Scholarship Alliance (GSA)
today announced that 10 foreign nurse-scholars have arrived in the United States
for an innovative cultural exchange program offered in partnership with GSA,
Capital University and OhioHealth. The group was welcomed to Ohio during a
private meeting with Ohio Governor Bob Taft. The GSA scholarship program is
designed to help ease the worldwide nursing crisis by producing the next
generation of nurse leaders and educators. The 10 GSA nurse-scholars from the
Philippines will pursue Masters of Science in Nursing (MSN) degrees at Capital
University in Columbus.
The nurse-scholar participants in GSA’s program
receive full MSN scholarships to Capital University and are eligible to gain
clinical experience at OhioHealth’s three hospitals, Doctors Hospital, Grant
Medical Center and Riverside Methodist Hospital, during the period of study. The
four and a half year program combines intense academic study at an American
university with part-time clinical experience in partner hospitals. Upon
completion of the program, and after contributing to the healthcare system
locally, the GSA nurse-scholars are required to return to their home countries
for at least two years, where they will lead and train the next generation of
nurses as clinical instructors, nurse leaders, or hospital administrators.
“Our school is opposed to foreign nurse staffing models, and the
negative impact they have on developing countries,” commented Dr. Elaine Haynes,
dean of the school of nursing at Capital University. “Global Scholarship
Alliance’s education program is based on a compelling social mission to improve
nursing globally. It offers U.S. hospitals a unique opportunity to enhance their
nursing programs responsibly with diverse students, while contributing to the
healthcare system of a country on the other side of the world. These nurses will
earn their masters degrees and gain experience in a first world health system
and then return home better educated and more capable of improving the health of
their own communities. The partnership between GSA , Capital University, and
OhioHealth supports our mission to educate professional nurse leaders for lives
of service promoting health and healing in our diverse
communities.”
GSA’s program will also help OhioHealth hospitals achieve
their goal of maintaining safe nurse-patient ratios, and increasing staff
diversity and continuity of care by reducing dependency on staffing agency
nurses. The hospitals will achieve these objectives without displacing positions
that would otherwise go to Ohio nurses.
Ensuring Quality
The Global
Scholarship Alliance selection process, which adheres to United States nursing
standards, ensures that only first-rate nurses are accepted into the program.
GSA carefully evaluates educational transcripts, licensing board scores, work
histories and clinical experiences, references, and background checks.
Prospective nurse-scholars are required to possess a baccalaureate degree in
nursing (a bachelor of science in nursing or an equivalent degree), a registered
nursing license in their home country, two or more years of hospital experience,
and must also pass the U.S. nursing exam, as well as a language proficiency
exam. The nurse-scholars are then personally selected by representatives from
the universities and hospitals through face-to-face interviews in the nurse’s
home country. Those selected must also meet U.S. licensing and immigration
requirements before arriving in America.
“Many Americans are unaware that
the nursing shortage is actually a global crisis,” stated Ty Nelson, GSA’s
executive vice president of operations. “The staffing industry’s method of
one-way recruiting from foreign countries to the United States and other
developed countries is not sustainable and negatively impacts patient care
delivery in those developing countries.”
“One of the biggest problems
created by staffing solutions is the dramatic decline in the quality of
healthcare in foreign countries,” commented Linda Wagner, director of employee
education at OhioHealth. “International staffing companies regularly recruit
nurses to the United States permanently. While it helps the situation here, it
makes matters worse in other countries like India and the Philippines. GSA’s
program, educates the world’s nurses, helps ease the nursing shortage and
improve continuity of healthcare in the United States, and strengthens
healthcare systems in other countries. At OhioHealth we have four key values:
Compassion, Excellence, Stewardship, and Integrity. GSA’s program helps us
realize all of them.”
“Global Scholarship Alliance represents a
coordinated effort to improve nursing here at home and around the world,” stated
J. William Deville, chief executive officer at Global Scholarship Alliance. “By
partnering with GSA in this worthy cause, our university and hospital partners
are making a statement about the solid values of their institutions. What we
offer is a long-term, financially sound, sustainable and socially responsible
solution to the problem.”
About Capital University
Located in
Columbus, Ohio, Capital University is a comprehensive, independent university,
grounded in the Lutheran tradition. It offers diverse undergraduate and graduate
programs in the arts, sciences, and professions. It emphasizes excellence in
teaching in a personalized, student-centered environment of robust academic
challenge. It is committed to using multiple approaches to intellectual
development in order to serve the lifelong learning of a heterogeneous
population. It seeks to prepare individuals to live holistic lives of leadership
and service. More information can be found at www.capital.edu or by contacting Nichole Johnson at
(614-236-6945).
About OhioHealth
OhioHealth is a Columbus-based,
not-for-profit, charitable organization serving and supported by the community.
It is a family of hospitals, health and surgery centers, home- health providers,
medical equipment and other health service suppliers throughout a 46-county
area. OhioHealth hospitals in Franklin County are Doctors Hospital, Grant
Medical Center and Riverside Methodist Hospital. More information can be
obtained on the Internet at www.ohiohealth.com.
About Global Scholarship
Alliance
Global Scholarship Alliance partners with leading U.S. universities
and healthcare organizations in an effort to enrich nursing globally by
providing scholarships and professional development for future nurse leaders and
educators, building alliances between leading U.S. universities and hospitals,
and fostering the equitable distribution of nurses throughout the world. The
company facilitates cultural exchange programs and provides scholarships to
foreign nurses who seek professional development through the combination of a
U.S. Masters of Science in Nursing degree and academic training in a U.S.
hospital. U.S. universities and hospitals benefit from a long-term solution to
declining enrollment and the global nursing shortage; and through the
requirements of the program, Masters-degreed and U.S. hospital trained
nurse-scholars return to contribute to the education and training of future
nurses in their home countries. The company currently provides scholarships to
nurses from a variety of countries including the Philippines, India, Canada, and
the United Kingdom. Global Scholarship Alliance has alliance partnerships in
Kansas, Ohio, New York, Minnesota, and Texas. More information is available at
www.GlobalScholarship.net or by contacting Steve Albert at
513-665-4544.
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Source : http://www.prweb.com/releases/2005/6/prweb248187.htm