Educating nurse leaders to think globally with international collaborative learning

Abstract

Given the rapid pace of change and globalization, leaders in healthcare must be educated to think globally even if they only act locally. This short article discusses the experience of a collaborative online international learning (COIL) project between the University of Iceland (UI) and the University of Minnesota (UMN) in the United States. The project was embedded into graduate courses in nursing administration and leadership. COIL courses require substantial collaboration but, when done well, COIL transforms teaching so that global awareness of students and faculty is enhanced and widens their horizons as well as their cultural sensitivity.