Washburn School of Nursing:
the next decade of progress A
new initiative in international education debuted at Washburn with the fall 2010 semester. Three nursing students attended classes at Queen’s University in Belfast, Northern Ireland, and five European nursing students – one from Queen’s University, two from Mikkeli University of Applied Sciences in Finland and two from Szeged University in Hungary – began a year of study at Washburn.
The student exchanges are being funded by a hard-won $420,000 Transatlantic Double Degree in Nursing Project grant, which takes a giant step beyond traditional student exchange programs by providing nursing students the opportunity to receive two degrees in a streamlined process. Washburn students in the exchange program will receive baccalaureate nursing of health and science degrees from one of the three participating European Union universities, and EU students will receive nursing or health science degrees from Washburn. The graduates will begin their careers with two nursing degrees, one international and one from their home country, enabling them to work almost anywhere in the world. Monica Scheibmeir, dean of Washburn’s School of Nursing, calls this the forefront of understanding global education. “Early in their professional careers, graduates from this program will be distinguished in their understanding of global health and broad social issues,” she said. The foundation of this opportunity was laid in the late 1990s when Washburn’s School of Nursing received a grant for a four- to six-week student exchange program with a consortium of universities in Europe and the United States. The friendly relations formed among the professors, deans and administrators of the respective 5 Washburn School of Nursing
universities was an unexpected benefit. Even after the grant ended, Queen's University and Mikkeli University of Applied Sciences continued to exchange students with Washburn. In 2006, Cynthia Hornberger, then dean of Washburn’s School of Nursing, received a telephone call from the dean of Mikkeli University of Applied Sciences. Students from European Union countries participating in the Transatlantic Double Degree Project (L to R) Minna Masalin, Finland; Caoimhe Clifford, Northern Ireland; Anita Lakatos, Hungary; Dezsö Seteny, Hungary; and Moona Ylikoski, Finland.