Barbara Allerton, recent faculty emerita from the Boise State University School of Nursing, and Marty Downey, associate professor in the Boise State School of Nursing, led 11 students to China as part of the class Nursing 397: Study Abroad: Health Care Beyond Borders (China 2013), as the most recent exchange under Boise State’s School of Nursing’s partnership with Hangzhou Normal University (HNU) in Hangzhou, China. The partnership was created by a memorandum of understanding signed in 2006.
The students prepared for the trip with a full semester Blackboard course in which Allerton provided numerous articles, links, resources, and discussions on the healthcare and culture of China. The students selected a book from a list for a book report assignment that reflected on the culture of China as one of several preparatory assignments that created a stimulating learning environment and boosted excitement for the trip.
HNU students who had studied at Boise State in the last few years greeted the group at the Shanghai airport on May 21. They immediately traveled to Hangzhou where the group had a warm reunion with faculty and students whom they had met in previous cultural exchanges.
While in Hangzhou, students and faculty gave a series of presentations to the HNU nursing faculty and students with very positive responses. Allerton presented “Non-Drug Pain Management” and Downey presented “Holistic Nurse Self-care: Nurturing the Nurse and Stress Management.” The Boise State nursing students presented on “Nursing in the United States” and “United States Healthcare System.” The group learned about Chinese health care by touring hospitals and clinics, including Zhejiang University School of Medicine at Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital and Kaixuan Community Health Center. At Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital, Allerton and Downey presented a seminar to nurse educators on “Teaching Clinical Nursing: Clinical Mentoring/Precepting.” While visiting the Zhejiang Moganshan Acupuncture and Tuina Hospital, Boise State students received acupuncture and cupping treatments provided by the traditional Chinese medicine practitioner.
In addition to learning about Chinese health care, the students visited many cultural and tourist sites of Hangzhou, including the West Lake, the Lingyin Buddhist Temple, and the silk and tea museums.
The visit to HNU concluded with a celebratory dinner whose many attendees included HNU’s dean of health sciences, the dean of the medical college, nursing faculty, staff and students.
For the remainder of their visit the group traveled to enjoy the cultural sites and diversity in China. They returned to Shanghai for a tour of the Yuyuan Gardens and the City God Temple before taking a train to Beijing, where they visited the Forbidden City, Confucian and Buddhist temples, and the Great Wall of China. They enjoyed a performance at the Peking Opera and a Chinese cooking class where they learned how to make dumplings. Additionally, the group visited China-Japan Friendship Hospital, where Allerton and Downey presented to their students and the nurses.
They left China on June 4 having formed many friendships, contacts, and fond memories of amazing food, sites, and fabulous cultural experiences.
The following students were participants in Nursing 397:
RN-BS Online/Distance Completion Track
- Stephanie Cortez
Pre-Licensure Program
- Bryan Fulmer
- Lindsey Gilbert
- Ashton Hadfield
- Hillary Hoppe
- Chanda Knight
- Allysa Kull
- Maria Mason
- Laura McConeghy
- Sara Spencer
- Araceli Trejo