FPB continues its transformative collaboration with Japan's Aichi Medical University College of Nursing
Japanese students and faculty embark on specially-designed one-week training program
Posted 4/6/2011
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Aichi Medical University College of Nursing visitors with FPB School of Nursing staffL to R: AMU Professor Fusako Sato, FPB Asst. Director of Marketing Jason Barone, Kiyoko Sato, Ami Kidouka, FPB International Health Programs Director Samira Hussney, Keiji Fujisawa, Michiyo Okano, Janice Tsui, Kaoru Haneta, and AMU Associate Professor Megumi Otani (click to enlarge) |
Further solidifying the FPB School of Nursing's close partnership with Japan's Aichi Medical University College of Nursing, a group of undergraduate nursing students from Japan arrived with two faculty members to Cleveland on March 12 to embark on a ten-day training program designed to enhance their first-hand knowledge of American nursing education and healthcare systems.
Professor of Critical Care Nursing Dr. Fusako Sato and Associate Professor of Psychiatric Nursing Ms. Megumi Otani accompanied six BSN students on this trip: freshmen Michiyo Okano and Ami Kidouka, sophomore Kaoru Haneta, and juniors Wai Yuk "Janice" Tsui, Keiji Fujisawa, and Kiyoko Sato.
FPB's unique collaborative relationship with Aichi Medical University (AMU) began late in 2007. FPB instructor and Acute Care Nurse Practitioner/Flight Nursing Program Clinical Director Christopher Manacci, MSN, ACNP-C, CCRN was contacted by the Japanese university, located not far from Nagoya, to help them establish the first-ever graduate-level acute care nurse practitioner/flight nursing program in Asia. Manacci saw this as a fantastic opportunity to help revolutionize the state of nursing in Japan by, over time, enabling its advanced practice nurses to confront medical emergencies with greater knowledge, autonomy, and skill in critical care.
"We are currently working on having nurse practitioners acheive official recognition by the Japanese government to be more on par with their American counterparts, in terms of advanced practice education and authority," says Dr. Sato. "Over the past few years, Mr. Manacci has visited our university to give lectures and training seminars related to advanced nursing practice and flight nursing, and they have been gaining attention throughout Japan. Our students' visit this year to the FPB School of Nursing, in which they are involved in direct, hands-on experiences, is just one part of our efforts to transform the role of nursing in our country."
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Aichi visitors with CWRU's Associate Provost for International Affairs David Fleshler (click to enlarge) |
"We see American healthcare as among the best in the world in terms of innovation and practice," says Janice Tsui, who is originally from Hong Kong and wishes to become a nurse midwife. "We wanted to come see these advances for ourselves and understand not only how they are being done but also what we can improve at home."
"I believe in the importance of nursing research," says Kiyoko Sato, who already has eleven years of experience as a bedside nurse in Japan but wanted to advance her education. "After visiting FPB, I've been learning more than I had expected, particularly about how the American healthcare system works at the level of the local community. I'm thinking of becoming a public health nurse when I graduate with my degree next year."
Like FPB's other recent student visitors from South Korea and Taiwan, the Japanese students participated in a series of nursing classes, labs, clinicals, and community service visits during the week of March 14. Having arrived to Cleveland just one day after the tragic March 11 earthquake and tsunami disasters in eastern Japan, one might think that the students had to mitigate their excitement towards their trip with concerns about home. However, their undeniable enthusiasm and eagerness to absorb and experience as much as possible during their stay soon put such concerns to rest.
"I was really looking foward to experiencing American college life," says Michiyo Okano, who is interested in home care nursing for the elderly. "I only wish we could stay longer, as I would love to share some of my cultural interests, like Japanese tea cermony and shinobue flute, with American students."
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Aichi students during a special joint English-Japanese class visit with CWRU juniors and seniors in JAPN 351 (click to enlarge) |
Experiencing American culture first-hand was also one of Ami Kidouka's reasons for coming to Cleveland and FPB. "I felt that this trip would raise my motivation to keep studying nursing as well as English," she says. "There was so much all of us wanted to do here during our short visit, but I know I'll be going back home to Japan feeling inspired."
Keiji Fujisawa, the lone male student in the group, says his participation in the visit was propelled not only by his interests in critical care nursing and international healthcare systems, but also by his love of learning English and desire to study abroad. "My father is a pastor of a Christian church in Japan," he says. "Through his involvement with various aid groups, for a long time I've wanted to join an international NGO to help people around the world, and nursing is the perfect way to do that."
Kaoru Haneta is also deeply interested in traveling abroad and working as a nurse for an international aid organization. "This was my first trip to the United States," she says. "I see so many opportunities to help the less fortunate, including victims of natural disasters. While we were shopping in a supermarket here in Cleveland, Ami [Kidouka] and I were asked to donate to a hunger charity--which we did, gladly!"
"We also appreciate how FPB arranged our experiences specifically for us," Janice Tsui adds. "Along with attending some of the regular classes, several instructors gave us special presentations about topics we're interested in, and they spoke slowly enough for us to understand. And it was a lot of fun to hang out in the dorm with Case students!"
The Japanese students' visit was coordinated by Samira Hussney, director of FPB's International Health Programs, and Jason Barone, Assistant Director of Marketing and Communications. Per the students' request, Jason utilized his graduate degree in English as well as experience and certification in teaching English as a Second Language (ESL) to provide them with daily English lessons. Mr. Manacci, who in addition to his teaching duties at FPB is also the managing nurse practitioner of critical care transport at the Cleveland Clinic, arranged for a specialized tour of the Cleveland Clinic along with his flight nursing colleague, Stephanie Steiner, MSN, RN.
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