John A. Oates Jr., M.D.
Vanderbilt Nursing School joins forces with new nursing school in Nepal
The Vanderbilt School of Nursing has signed an agreement to collaborate with a new nursing school in Kathmandu, Nepal, to provide consultation services to administration and other members of the Scheer Memorial Hospital.
The Seventh Day Adventist hospital has 150 patient beds and offers health care education and training, and a newly established baccalaureate nursing program for the people of Nepal.
“Their faculty will be invited to attend any workshops and faculty development programs we offer. We have sent and will continue to send them textbooks we no longer need and we’re providing some consultation to them as they start their nursing program,” said Linda Norman, D.S.N., senior associate dean of Academics at Vanderbilt.
Roy Kline Jr., CEO of Scheer Memorial Hospital, said the Vanderbilt-Scheer Memorial agreement is the first step in making nursing history in Nepal. “With the help of Vanderbilt, Scheer will be offering the nation’s first western nursing curriculum that meets the requirements of regulatory bodies both in Nepal as well as in the United States,” said Kline.
Norman said the partnership allows Vanderbilt the opportunity to impact the nursing shortage in a geographically remote country.
“It’s very hard for them to get nurses because they are so remote,” she said. “This is just one way to help the issue of global nursing.”
Kline said the agreement will impact significant changes in Nepal.
“In a country where education for women is decades behind the rest of the world, this nursing program will open many doors of opportunities for the underprivileged women of Nepal. We are excited about this agreement that is unique in the innovative way it will bring quality nursing education to Nepal,” said Kline.
VUSN Dean Colleen Conway-Welch, Ph.D., agrees.
“Our advances in computerized teaching and learning have made this relationship possible. It would not have been possible even five years ago,” said Conway-Welch.
Under the agreement, faculty and students from Vanderbilt will have the opportunity to visit and study at the facility in Nepal, and in return, faculty and students from Scheer Memorial will also be welcomed at VUSN.