A&T Nursing Students to Gain Experience in Barbados

GREENSBORO - Six student nurses from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University are gaining practical experience and training in Barbados this summer. They traveled to Barbados July 5 and will return July 28.

The students are Georgina Watts, Ti Shambay Thompson, Aisha Riley, Tara Chaney, Rasheda Jones and Tomesha Crowder.

The experience is being funded by a Futures Ventures Fund Grant that was awarded to the School of Nursing. The project, “An International Perspective on Health Care: The Role of the Nursing Preceptor in Barbados,” aims at emphasizing the international-intercultural experience of student nurses as they take part in preceptorship relations with nurses in Barbados.

The implementation and administration of this project will be led by Dr. E. Monica Ward-Murray, an assistant professor and assistant to the dean for research, and Donna Paulsen, a faculty member in the School of Nursing.

"This experience will provide an opportunity for student nurses to improve their clinical skills and to grow in terms of self and cultural awareness,” said Ward-Murray. “This project is important because it exposes A&T nursing students to exemplary care with limited resources, and it gives the preceptors the opportunity to gain awareness of new technological advances from the students through their interactions and discussions.

“While students are improving on their clinical skills, they will be developing a greater sensitivity to the healthcare needs of another culture. They are also able to make a comparison of health care infrastructure in the Caribbean and the United States.”