Nurse Educators Workshop

USAPI Nurse Educators Workshop
June 15-17. 2007
University of Hawaii at Manoa Campus
School of Nursing and Dental Hygiene, Webster Hall

            Nursing education in the pacific area is varied and impacted by both distance and migration. Recognizing this the University of Hawaii at Manoa School of Nursing and Dental Hygiene along with the United States Public Health Service (USPHS) and the World Health Organization (WHO) recently held an invitational conference June 15^th -17^th of pacific island nurse educators at the school. This meeting was held on the heels of the American Pacific Island Nurse Leadership Conference (APNLC) held in American Samoa (June 11^th-14^th).  Many of the nurse educators were in attendance at the APNLC meeting and they were traveling through Hawaii on their return home. In addition to the American affiliated Pacific islands, Western Samoa and experienced nurse educators from several Native American tribal colleges were present. Dean Boland and several faculty from the SONDH attended. Federal agencies had representation including the USPHS, HRSA and members of the US military. The specific jurisdictions represented were University of Hawaii at Manoa School of Nursing and Dental Hygiene; American Samoa Community College; The National University of Samoa, Western Samoa; The College Marshall Islands, Republic of Marshall Islands; The College of Micronesia; Federated States of Micronesia (Yap, Chuuk, Pohnpei, Kosrea), additionally, tribal schools represented were Salish Kootenai College, Montana; Oglala Lakota College, South Dakota. Click here to see complete attendee listing.

            Numerous issues were discussed including faculty shortages, and education levels of nurses throughout the various jurisdictions. Of concern to the entire group was the lack of a school of nursing in the Federated States of Micronesia, funding opportunities through US government, methods to increase collaboration and examination of regional educational opportunities. 

             Kathleen Fritsch, RN, MN, NP, Regional Nursing Advisor Western Pacific Region World Health Organization spoke to the specific need for mapping (identification) of  educational opportunities and legal regulations throughout the area. The University of Hawaii at Manoa and the University of Guam agreed to work on this issue for the American affiliated pacific islands or northern pacific region. James Cook University in Australia is coordinating this activity for the southern pacific region.

            The following are some of the issues and actions identified by the group. Click here for a compete listing of the nurse educators issues summary.

1. The education and regulatory mapping of the pacific area (WHO priority).
   
2. The development of regional emergency planning and response with the development of functional networks (WHO priority).
   
3. Evaluation of the use of the ICN core competencies by various educational institutions.
   
4. Target and development of a nursing curriculum for resource constrained countries.
   
5. Development of the APNLC website with educational resources.
   
6. Report the proceedings of the educator’s conference.