Two University of Panama students and their professor became the first Panamanian visitors to arrive on campus as part of the Mennonite College of Nursing’s Transcultural Nursing Experience Program.
Undergraduate University of Panama nursing students Aida Garcia and George Garibaldi, along with Dr. Lucero de Estrada, a professor of nursing at the University of Panama, spent the first week of November 2022 immersed in nursing education experiences at Illinois State University and throughout Bloomington-Normal.
“I like to learn about other countries and other cultures, and this was a great opportunity to learn about the nursing program in another country,” said Garibaldi, a junior nursing major. “I wanted to come here so I could learn and apply some of the things from this nursing program in my country.”
During their week in the U.S., the exchange students shadowed nurses at local community clinics, a public school, and area hospitals. They also spent time in the Mennonite Lab Building where they participated in nursing simulations and learned how to use virtual reality (VR) technology.
“I loved the laboratory simulation,” Garcia said. According to Estrada, the University of Panama—which strives to be a leader in nursing education in Central America—recently acquired similar VR technology; but it has not yet been integrated into curriculum.
“The virtual education experiences our students had will be important to share with other students and with faculty,” Estrada said. “They will be my helpers to introduce the virtual lab simulation.”
Technology also plays an important role for nurses in U.S. clinics and hospitals, Garibaldi observed. He said he was impressed by the telehealth infrastructure which enables patients to communicate with nurses and doctors from their homes.
“The telemedicine that they do here in some of the hospitals was my favorite part,” Garibaldi said. “Nurses here have great communication with the patient, and the patient doesn’t always have to come to the center.”
Garibaldi said he would like to help establish telehealth options in Panama to decrease the hours that some patients must spend traveling to and waiting at public health clinics and hospitals for evaluations and treatments.
Estrada said she is also returning to Panama with a new goal. After meeting the school nurse at a local public high school and discussing the public-school nursing system with Mennonite College of Nursing (MCN) faculty, she hopes to start the University of Panama’s first public school nursing program.
“I want to develop a nursing school program for pediatric nurses who don’t want to continue working in the hospital or in primary care,” Estrada said. “We need to give them a new option—to work in a school.”
Dr. Susana J. Calderon, an MCN assistant professor and a registered nurse, said it was important for the Panamanian visitors to observe the role of nurses in U.S. health care while also learning new technology. During the summer of 2022, 15 Illinois State nursing students in MCN’s Transcultural Nursing Experience Program traveled to the University of Panama where they participated in a variety of health care and cultural experiences, including health promotion efforts, physical assessments of children, and more.
“This globalization that we see goes both ways,” Calderon said. “Our students were able to have this exchange and see how health care, public health, and acute care is administered in Panama. And then, the students from Panama observed health care in the United States.”
Calderon said MCN’s Transcultural Nursing Experience Program helps prepare nursing students to serve a diverse, globalized patient population.
“We are creating nurses that are able to treat patients, no matter where they’re from,” Calderon said. “They can feel confidence that they can communicate, and they have the tools to work in a global world.”
Garcia and Garibaldi enjoyed once again seeing some of the Illinois State students who visited the University of Panama over the summer. Since then, they have stayed in touch through social media.
“It’s pretty amazing, because I never thought I would have friends like this in the United States,” Garibaldi said. Some of his favorite cultural experiences while in Bloomington-Normal with his MCN friends and mentors included overeating at a local steakhouse and browsing through a large bookstore.
Despite being 2,000 miles from home, Garcia and Garibaldi said they appreciated their connections with MCN faculty and students—all drawn to nursing for similar reasons.
“My purpose in life is to help people,” Garibaldi said. “That’s why I want to be a nurse.”
