Seitoku University nursing students travel from Japan to Manoa for cross-cultural seminar
By: Gary Glauberman
On February 12-14, 2024, the University of Hawaii at Manoa Nancy Atmospera-Walch School of Nursing (NAWSON) hosted 35 nursing students and faculty from Seitoku University located in Tokyo, Japan. This International Nursing Seminar was a three-day event that emphasized leadership, cross-cultural exchange, global health, and excellence in nursing practice and education.
The seminar provided a unique platform for students from Japan and Hawaii to engage in discussions, share insights, and explore the diverse challenges and opportunities within the nursing field. Highlights of the event included in-depth simulation training with live actors from the UH Translational Health Science Simulation Center, and lectures provided by NAWSON faculty on select global health topics including disaster nursing, vector-borne disease prevention and control, and mitigating the impact of climate change and health. The event culminated with a cultural exchange activity between Seitoku University and Manoa nursing students, where they exchanged a series of presentations and activities that gave insight into their cultures. Students ate lunch together and shared about nursing education and practice where they live.
The purpose of the event was to focus on the critical role of cultural competence in healthcare, fostering a deeper understanding and collaboration between future nursing leaders from these two distinct cultures. Shaina Yamashita, a nursing student in the Graduate Entry Program in Nursing (GEPN) program who attended the event remarked, “I really found the entire experience meaningful and interesting. The Seitoku students were so friendly, and their presentations on Japanese culture were really fun.”
Dr. Gary Glauberman, UHM NAWSON Assistant Professor and MS Online Advanced Population Health Nursing program director agreed, stating that the “event not only enriched participants’ educational experience but also broadened the perspectives of nursing students from Hawaii and Japan, underscoring the global nursing community’s interconnectedness in advancing health and nursing practice worldwide. The event was coordinated by the THSSC simulation directors, staff member Kimm Teruya and THSSC staff, and the NAWSON Global Health Program faculty. The Global Health Program supports global health nursing education, research and service programs for nursing students, educators and professionals and aims to integrate global health nursing into curriculum, support a global health nursing research program, and maintain an international nursing continuing education program.