20: ENHANCING THE DOCTOR OF NURSING PRACTICE DEGREE ■ 455
assessments from first- year faculty, students, and FIE partners in London, the study
program became a standard part of the DrNP curriculum, and it was advertised as
“mandatory” for the second class of 2006.
During the first 4 years of this program, it was evident that many of the students
had never ever been abroad, and others who had traveled abroad had not visited
London or Dublin. This is actually not surprising when one recognizes that the most
typical doctoral nursing student (even today) is a woman in her forties often managing
families, education, and a full- time career. Although some students were reticent about
going abroad due to family responsibilities, most adapted quite well and enjoyed the
experience immensely. Students not only learned course content, but were able to expe-
rience a different culture for a 2- week period and be exposed to a different health care
system, educational system, research viewpoint, and perspective. In Ireland, students
were quite interested to learn about the religious oppression of the Irish people and its
effects even today. Many modern Irish who themselves had not experienced oppression
still spoke about the psychological pain of oppression in their normal dialogue with the
students. Many of the students identified with these feelings and their pain resonated
with them. In London, students were able to experience an incredibly massive, cosmo-
politan city that probably provided a more diverse cultural experience, but certainly
less intimate and personal, than Dublin. The faculty were particularly observant of the
impact Ireland had on many of our students who were of Irish descent and in the coun-
try for the first time.
Overall, the DrNP study- abroad experience provided students with an oppor-
tunity to experience another country and learning another culture while maintaining
full- time or part- time employment in the States. These doctoral students, all studying
part- time, had an opportunity to immerse themselves in their studies for a 2- week per-
iod and also bond as a group, becoming familiar with each other as individuals, stu-
dents, and professionals. Students also learned about London or Dublin in the classroom
and out in the field without the immediate pressures of family and work. They learned
that largely Anglophilic London and Dublin are indeed very different from their own
American culture, and that despite having an accent, or having a different educational
system or health care system, we are still at the core more alike than different.
■ SUMMARY
From 2007 to 2010 and the fifth, sixth, and seventh study- abroad programs (which add-
ed a 4- day experience in Edinburgh, Scotland, when DrNP students attended the Second
International Conference on the Professional Doctorate in 2011 as part of their London
program; in 2012, the program returned to Dublin; and in 2013, the students split time
with 1 week in London and then to Rome for the Third International Conference on the
Professional Doctorate), it became clear that this innovation had become an integral part
of the curriculum. Even with the downturn in the economy with the global recession
in 2007, the program was sustainable and able to only modestly increase the quarterly
fee each year (e.g., 1 year due to increased fuel charges and another due to fluctuating
currency exchange rates). The initial intention was never to be based solely in London,
although partnering with the London- based FIE made the job of planning such a short-
term study- abroad program much easier. It should be noted that despite the trend
toward globalism and outreach to new international locations like China and India,
almost 40% of current U.S. students complete their study- abroad experience in just four
countries, the United Kingdom, Italy, Spain, and France (NAFSA, 2016).