Nurse students head to Pennsylvania

Two nursing students from London are travelling to the US to take place in the first fully-funded international nursing exchange.

Pennsylvania University will be home to the degree students, from the Florence Nightingale School of Nursing and Midwifery at King's College, for the autumn term of this year.

Funding is being given to the nursing school by HCL International, a large healthcare recruitment firm which specialises in placing nurses abroad. It is the first time the company has funded a placement for students yet to qualify.

The successful students were selected from a shortlist for their exemplary academic and clinical record, and 'real passion to experience working and studying in another country'.

Once in the US, the students will undertake coursework in clinical nursing at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, which is a large academic research hospital, as well as classroom work on nursing leadership.

Alison While, professor of community nursing at King's College, said: 'This programme will give students an international perspective of nursing and the opportunity to undertake clinical placements in other health systems.'

Sarah Kagan, nursing school programme coordinator at Pennsylvania University, added: 'We are very excited about our exchange program with foreign nursing students. The fresh perspectives these students bring are a vital part of our mission of engaging current and future nurses in discussions about the essence of nursing and how it translates into practice here in the US as well as around the world.'