The regional transnationalization of Latin American nursing

Abstract

As a knowledge generator, the university has always worked towards the internationalization of its research function, based on the researchers' autonomy. As from the 1990's, as a consequence of the globalization process, this assertion is no longer restricted to the research function, but also includes the teaching function (1) .Nowadays, the university should work to produce pluriversity knowledge, that is, contextual knowledge to the extent that the principle organizing its production is its possible application. As the knowledge is applied beyond the university walls, the initiative to formulate the problems one intends to solve and to determine criteria for their relevance is the result of sharing between researchers and users. In pluriversity knowledge production, unilaterality is replaced by interactivity, which has gained enormous power by the revolution in information and communication technologies (2) .Technological development is considered one of the most important tools for internationalization and for the use of the web to strengthen distance education and build collaborative research networks.As a result of globalization, the university increasingly needs to find regional synergies and intensify networks so as to stimulate and expand existing forms of transnational cooperation and multiply them in the framework of bilateral or multilateral agreements, in line with principles of mutual benefit (2) .In this sense, Latin American Nursing has made efforts to transnationalize teaching and research institutions and establish regional collaborative networks. Initiatives in this sense include welcoming foreign students, mainly in graduate programs; international associations involving consulting services to foreign universities; collaborative research projects, distance education, virtual learning, faculty mobility, on-line libraries, research funding for students and faculty, among others.

Intercâmbio internacional nos cursos de graduação de enfermagem

“…6 Particularmente na área da saúde, entre os vários temas pesquisados, a formação de profissionais tem sido objeto de preocupação constante das instituições de ensino superior, pois, por sua própria natureza, a universidade é produtora do conhecimento por meio da investigação. 7 Dos futuros profissionais, têm sido exigidas, cada vez mais, distintas habilidades que transcendem o aprendizado técnico e incluem o domínio de outro idioma, conhecimento de diferentes culturas, competência para se relacionar, autoconfiança, desenvolvimento psicológico, amadurecimento e, sobretudo, capacidade de adaptação às mudanças impostas pelo mundo globalizado.…”