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IOWA Magazine | 01-03-2025

Iowa Students Gain a Global Perspective on Nursing

By IM Staff
2 minute read
Scholarships send future nurses to southern Africa to learn and serve alongside rural health care providers.
ALT PHOTO: REBECCA MILLER/UI COLLEGE OF NURSING, WITH SUPPORT FROM THE STANLEY INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL AWARD THROUGH INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMS AND THE STANLEY-UI FOUNDATION SUPPORT ORGANIZATION UI nursing students learn from EMTs about health care in rural Eswatini.

Each December and March, a dozen students from the University of Iowa College of Nursing spend two weeks in the Kingdom of Eswatini, putting their classroom preparation into action as they learn about health care practices in rural African communities. The trip is made possible for many students by UI alumni Andy (80BBA, 81MBA) and Susie Code (79BSN) through the Code Family Foundation, which provides needs-based scholarships for the community and public health nursing practicum abroad.

“[The UI students’ experience in Eswatini is] a gift back to the state of Iowa, because it just changes their focus to being community-minded,” says UI College of Nursing lecturer Kimberly Nuxoll, who leads the Eswatini course with clinical professor Anita Nicholson (87BSN, 91MA, 10PhD). “I do think that it breaks down a lot of biases and also really opens their eyes to seeing the bigger picture."

While their trip includes a safari at a wildlife preserve, the central purpose is to learn and serve alongside nurses in rural Africa. “When you take someone out of their environment and place them where they have an opportunity to serve, it is life-changing,” says Andy Code.

Alyssa Nahnsen (24BSN) makes friends with children from the Mnyafula Primary School outside of Siteki, Eswatini, during the University of Iowa public health nursing practicum abroad in spring 2024.
Alyssa Nahnsen (24BSN) interacts with a group of students from Mynyafula Primary School in rural Eswatini during a UI public health nursing practicum abroad.
In their free time, UI College of Nursing students went on a safari at a wildlife preserve where they encountered giraffes and other animals.
UI College of Nursing students experience wildlife on an African safari while studying abroad in Eswatini.
During their practicum abroad, UI College of Nursing students visited a hospital, private clinic, and several nonprofit organizations to learn how Eswatini provides health care to its rural populations.
Aubrey Baylor (24BSN) presents a community health workshop to nursing students and occupational health students at Good Shepherd Catholic College of Health Sciences in Siteki, Eswatini, in spring 2024.
UI nursing students spotted this elephant while studying abroad in Eswatini, a country in southern Africa.
ALT PHOTO: REBECCA MILLER/UI COLLEGE OF NURSING, WITH SUPPORT FROM THE STANLEY INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL AWARD THROUGH INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMS AND THE STANLEY-UI FOUNDATION SUPPORT ORGANIZATION
ALT PHOTO: REBECCA MILLER/UI COLLEGE OF NURSING, WITH SUPPORT FROM THE STANLEY INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL AWARD THROUGH INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMS AND THE STANLEY-UI FOUNDATION SUPPORT ORGANIZATION
ALT PHOTO: REBECCA MILLER/UI COLLEGE OF NURSING, WITH SUPPORT FROM THE STANLEY INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL AWARD THROUGH INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMS AND THE STANLEY-UI FOUNDATION SUPPORT ORGANIZATION
ALT PHOTO: REBECCA MILLER/UI COLLEGE OF NURSING, WITH SUPPORT FROM THE STANLEY INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL AWARD THROUGH INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMS AND THE STANLEY-UI FOUNDATION SUPPORT ORGANIZATION
ALT PHOTO: REBECCA MILLER/UI COLLEGE OF NURSING, WITH SUPPORT FROM THE STANLEY INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL AWARD THROUGH INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMS AND THE STANLEY-UI FOUNDATION SUPPORT ORGANIZATION
ALT PHOTO: REBECCA MILLER/UI COLLEGE OF NURSING, WITH SUPPORT FROM THE STANLEY INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL AWARD THROUGH INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMS AND THE STANLEY-UI FOUNDATION SUPPORT ORGANIZATION
ALT PHOTO: REBECCA MILLER/UI COLLEGE OF NURSING, WITH SUPPORT FROM THE STANLEY INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL AWARD THROUGH INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMS AND THE STANLEY-UI FOUNDATION SUPPORT ORGANIZATION

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