The Call for Global Health Research Mentorship for Doctorally Prepared Nurses in Low- and Middle-Income Countries

• Authors: Julie M Buser, University of Michigan; John Cranmer, Emory University; Veronica M Dzomeku, Kwame Nkrumah University Science & Technology; Alice Ngoma-Hazemba, University of Zambia; Tom D Ngabirano, Makerere University; Ashura Bakari, Suntreso Govt Hosp; Jody R Lori, University of Michigan
• Journal Title: AMERICAN JOURNAL OF TROPICAL MEDICINE AND HYGIENE
• Volume: Volume 104, Number 5
• Publisher: AMER SOC TROP MED & HYGIENE | 2021-05-01, Pages 1932-1935
• Type of Work: Article | Final Publisher PDF
• Publisher DOI: http://doi.org/10.4269/ajtmh.20-1603
• Subjects: Health Sciences, Public Health; Health Sciences, Nursing
• Keywords: Science & Technology; Life Sciences & Biomedicine; Public, Environmental & Occupational Health; Tropical Medicine

Abstract

Limited research about nursing mentorship in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) is holding science back. This article describes the strengths and challenges associated with global health research mentorship for doctorally prepared nurses whose scholarship focuses on LMICs. Using reflexive narrative accounts from current and former nurse mentors and nurse mentees who participated in a NIH-funded global health doctoral research program, emerging themes revealed the perspectives of mentors and mentees, producing a global health mentoring model for nursing research mentorship relevant to LMICs. Identified themes, which applied across roles and primary affiliations, included 1) collaborative mentor-mentee relationships and 2) enthusiasm for global health nursing. Our global health nursing research mentor-mentee interaction systems conceptual model focuses on nursing science mentoring in LMICs incorporating interpersonal, institutional, and cultural factors. We describe successful components of global nurse researcher mentorship and summarize directions for future research in the field. Our model can be used to create more effective menteecentered mentoring for nurses or health professionals conducting global research. To advance science, we encourage doctorally prepared nurses to support mentee-centered research mentorship experiences that are sensitive to the unique needs of interdisciplinary global health scholarship.