International residency for the development of the emergency department clinical nurse specialist role

Abstract

The demand for nurses with advanced skills to address health needs in our increasingly complex world is growing. Advanced practice nursing (APN) is expanding globally to meet this demand. Some APNs, nurse practitioners for example, work directly with patients and increase patient access to care. Others, such as clinical nurse specialists (CNSs), work within healthcare systems to improve care coordination and continuity, assure implementation of evidence and best practices, and provide leadership for patient safety and system quality. APN students need opportunities to apply their new knowledge and to practice new skills gained in their graduate education. They typically do this during precepted experiences provided under the mentorship of master’s prepared APNs. While there are many APNs in the United States (US), APNs are difficult to find in other countries. Although APN roles outside the US may involve different competencies and components, international collaboration is one way to overcome the global misdistribution of APNs to APN students. By matching APNs in one country with APN students from another, we can facilitate the advancement of healthcare and the nursing profession (Halabi et al., 2011). The Schools of Nursing at the American University of Beirut (AUB) in Beirut, Lebanon and Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, US, and Johns Hopkins Hospital have established an international collaboration to provide clinical nurse specialist students from AUB mentorship from US clinical nurse specialists (AUB–JHU international collaborative residency). This international collaboration also provides the AUB students with clinical residencies within the US healthcare system. Our goal is to share the experiences of one APN student who completed an international residency with exposure to the role of the emergency department (ED) clinical nurse specialist at a US urban academic health center.