Preparing Nurse Practitioner Students for International Experiences Using Skills Acquisition

•International experiences for NP students involve more than cultural awareness.•International experiences allow NP students to practice clinical skills.•Skills acquisition laboratory experience can better prepare students.•Skills acquisition experience should be in close timing to international experience.•Variety of skills determined by population, country, equipment, and faculty.

BackgroundNursing education has utilized international experiences to increase nursing students' education of global perspectives on health care and increase their awareness of cultural differences. Reviews of these learning experiences have primarily focused on student benefits after their completion of the international experiences.MethodDoctorate of nurse practitioner (DNP) students enrolled in a family nurse practitioner (NP) program in a small northeastern university participated in three international experiences in Nicaragua for 2014 (March, June, and November 2014). Analysis of the experience in June 2014 demonstrated performance of several procedures by NP faculty that DNP students were unfamiliar and could be better prepared for the next international experience.ResultsA skills laboratory experience of the most frequent procedures performed in Nicaragua was planned and implemented to better prepare students before the November 2014 international experience. “Hands-on” skills were practiced in the laboratory to familiarize DNP students with the procedures before their international experience.ConclusionsFrom suturing to the dental inferior alveolar blocks, the simulations allowed the students to manipulate the instruments and become comfortable with the procedures. Although there were a wide variety of patient complaints in the nearly 200 patients that were encountered at the November 2014 clinic. Having the students prepared for the most common procedures that have been performed with previous international experiences provides them familiarity with the procedure content before a foreign experience. The purpose of this article was to describe this skills laboratory education of the NP students to prepare them for upcoming international experiences.