| Position
Statement: Decisions
regarding the adequacy of a student's educational background
and criteria for the educational experience should be the responsibility
of the institution that will grant the degree. The educational
program that admits international nursing students should define
and implement standards for adequate and appropriate supervision
of all nursing students, including those who are not independently
licensed to function as professional nurses.
Nurses who provide patient care, without
the supervision of other professionals including nursing faculty,
should be required to acquire licensure as proof of their
ability to practice in a safe manner. Students who are in
learning experiences that do not require independent, direct
or indirect patient care, should not be required to hold a
license for practice in that jurisdiction.
It is understood that in carrying out the
learning experiences, the student does not replace nursing
staff who are legally responsible for patient care. As with
any student in a learning environment, the role of the faculty
member or clinical preceptor serve as an important safeguard
of safety in the delivery of nursing services.
Background
Increasingly, nursing education programs in
the United States are serving as important sites for the education
of international students. The range of students that are
entering the U.S. nursing programs includes basic nursing
students, graduate students, and students attending non-degree
granting, time-limited educational experiences with specific
learning goals.
Nursing educators in the U.S. have created
a variety of options for these international students as part
of an effort to engage in international outreach. The primary
goal of this effort is to increase the numbers of expert nursing
clinicians, researchers, administrators, and educators who
can return to their countries of origin to expand and improve
the quality of nursing education in those countries.
As international nursing students enter graduate
nursing education programs in the U.S., they are required
to meet an array of educational credential reviews. In some
instances, international graduate nursing students have been
required to acquire licensure as a professional nurse in order
to enter the graduate nursing education program.
The requirement that international nursing
students become licensed professionals in the U.S. prior to
entering a graduate nursing program provides obstacles to
these students' learning opportunities. It also increases
the potential that, after completion of their studies, these
students will remain in the U.S. as practicing professionals,
creating a brain-drain from their home countries.
International graduate nursing students are
seeking clinical training opportunities as part of an educational
experience. The goal of this experience should be to assist
these students with acquiring new knowledge and skills. Therefore,
the AACN has taken the position above.
(Approved by Membership, March 28, 1994)
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