Curtin University nursing students headed to Bali earlier this month to take part in an exciting three-week exchange program for the first time with the Sekolah Tinggi Ilmu Kesehatan (STIKES) School of Nursing.
The group of 16 travelled to Bali thanks to a number of generous scholarships, provided by the Global Health Alliance Western Australia (GHAWA) through the Department of Health.
Curtin’s Health Sciences School of Nursing and Midwifery Lecturer Kim Coleman and Unit and Program Coordinator for the visit said the program had been designed to expand students’ awareness of global health and nursing trends.
“The unique experience will help to strengthen our students’ ability to adapt to different cultural health practices and healthcare environments, boost their professional community nursing practice, cultural competence, and interpersonal skills,” Ms Coleman said.
The excursion is part of the Global Community Health Nursing module offered to final year students in the new Bachelor of Science Nursing curriculum, which started for the first time this semester.
Como local Alexandra McDougall, a final year nursing student, said that she was looking forward to teaming up with nursing students in Bali and visiting a number of villages in rural areas just outside of Denpasar.
“I’ve never been to Bali before, so I can’t wait to get there. I’m excited about obtaining a real understanding of nursing in a different culture and clinical environment,” Ms McDougall said.
Nursing students from the STIKES School of Nursing will visit Curtin University in March 2011 for three weeks.
The nursing team left for Bali on 7 November.
