Global partnerships for professional development: a Cambodian exemplar.

Nurses have been volunteering to provide direct patient care in developing countries for several decades. As a result, countries have begun to develop their health care workforce capacity and standards of care, but educational and professional development needs have emerged. Global partnerships involving volunteers can assist developing countries to fulfill these needs, but little literature focuses on maximizing volunteers' experiences. Through global partnerships and collaboration, the leadership and academic capacity of nurses and other health care professionals in developing countries can be enhanced. In Cambodia specifically, the Khmer Rouge executed many educated health care personnel in the late 1970s, effectively eliminating a generation of mentors and leaders that could facilitate the professional development of the current workforce. One outcome may be the dearth of baccalaureate and graduate nursing programs in Cambodia. Two teams of U.S. volunteers and one of their Cambodian partners, a nursing education coordinator at a nongovernmental children's hospital, offer their experiences in collaborating, including the mutual benefits to both of such a partnership and the lessons learned. The authors will delineate several exemplars from their experiences of teaching and professional development.

The journey to the DNP program and beyond: what can we learn from pharmacy?

Advanced practice nursing has been elevated to a new level with the introduction of the DNP (Doctorate of Nursing Practice). One of the justifications for its implementation is the promotion of parity between nurses and other health care providers who require a practice doctorate. Concerns surrounding parity, the ability of DNP-prepared nurses to affect health care outcomes, equitable salary issues, and the DNP program's effect on the academic PhD (Doctorate of Philosophy) program have been expressed. The purpose of this analysis is to explore these issues using pharmacy as an example for implementing a practice doctorate. Similarities and differences between the professions are examined, and lessons that nursing can learn from pharmacy are discussed.