One-week virtual exchange mini course on Aging in Science for nursing students, held by West China School of Nursing, Sichuan University (SCU) andEdson College of Nursing and Health Innovation, Arizona State University(ASU) has come to an end on June 25, 2020.
To enhance cultural exchanges and promote the development of geriatric care, Arizona State University, together with Sichuan University, launched an online course titled Aging in Science in the summer of 2020. This course aims to foster nursing students’ cognition of aging that will help them provide the best nursing care, specific to maintaining the functionality, autonomy, dignity and wellbeing of older adults.
Aging mini course mainly contained three parts, including online teaching, group discussion and offline community practice. Online activities were hosted by Dr. Johannah Urili-Glover from Edison College of Nursing and Health Innovation, ASU. Other faculty members, including Katherine Kenny, Debra Hallock and Joe Russo, also addressed excellent speeches. Offline activities were guided and supervised by Professor Qian Chen. More than 40 nursing students from ASU and SCU participated in this exchange course.
At the beginning of the course, Dr. Johannah Uriri-Glover explained the pre-class instructions to all the students to help them understand the current situation and problems of aging in USA, shared her investigation of aging in China and asked students to discuss and express their opinions, which served as an ice-breaker.
Then Dr. Johannah Uriri-Glover gave a more detailed introduction on communication skills with the elderly, aging problems in both countries, myths and attitudes towards aging, common geriatric syndromes and assessments, etc. Nursing students fromASU-SCU discussed and reported on the issues of aging and related cases.
In the offline part, faculty members from ASU-SCU leaded students separately to visit the older adults in the communities. Students communicated with the older adults about their attitudes towards aging, life and cognition, etc., and helped them assess the risk of falling and sleep disorder and gavecorresponding suggestions.
Teachers from ASU shared an overview ofArizona Stateuniversity's development and academic progress. Students from ASU shared their researches and feelings on aging.
Students from both ASU and SCU expressed their sincere thanks to all the staff that made efforts to make this course happen. Although the course was over, the long-term friendship between the two nursing schools would last. Staff and students all look forward to working together in the exploration and practice of Gerontological Nursing and helping the development of the nursing career with wisdom and efforts.
In recent years, West China School of Nursing, Sichuan University has carried out extensive international exchanges and cooperation, made great efforts to explore a new mode of cultivating world-class talents, and vigorously promoted high-level international nursing education, which lay a solid foundation for cultivating compound nursing talents with international vision.
Image-text: Zijing Yang, Qian Chen, Linan Cheng
Editor: Xu Wang
Translation: Linan Cheng, Zijing Yang, Qian Chen and Xu Wang
