Nursing in Vietnam

Emerging Leaders in Nursing Administration:

Preparing nurse leaders for the future includes a global mindset. The article below is authored by a graduate student in nursing administration at the University of Texas at Arlington. Susan Veldey not only has become involved in global perspectives of nursing, but she is recognized as a leader. She has just been appointed to the board of directors of the Vietnam Nurse Project. (Submitted by: C. Plonien, DNP RN, CENP)

Nursing in Vietnam
By Susan Veldey, BSN, CEN, MSN Candidate, UTA

The Vietnam Nurse Project, founded in 2007 by Dr. Gregory Crow and Dr. Robert Geibert, has the mission to improve the health of the people of Vietnam by improving education, training and practice standards for the nurses who care for them. The vision is to assist in creating a new generation of nurse leaders that will partner with the government to improve the education and the overall practice of the nurse.

The Vietnam Nurse Project has not had an easy journey. Overall, there are governmental, cultural and financial issues to consider. Vietnam is a communist country. The curricula for nursing schools vary anywhere from one to five years and are mainly taught by physicians. The modality of teaching is accomplished primarily through lecture and clinical hours, which are mostly observational in nature. There is no NCLEX examination, so the level of skill and knowledge vary greatly.

As with healthcare in the United States, financial considerations are paramount. Supplies are limited and equipment old. There is not a nurse-to-patient ratio, which results in compromised patient care. Due to large patient volumes, it is not unusual for more than one patient to share a bed. Because of this practice, as one can imagine, infection control is very difficult to achieve.

Culturally, nurses in Vietnam are required to do what the physicians direct them to do. The profession of nursing is not typically held in high regard by others — it is a job. Through this project, we have learned that the nurses want to do a better job and learn how to provide better care.

Over the past 10 years, the Vietnam Nurse Project has evolved in its scope and approach. Initially, the focus was on educational standardization and leadership development. Over the years, U.S. nurse consultants pair with selected hospitals to work collaboratively on Vietnam nurse-initiated practice improvement projects, meeting monthly via Zoom. In October of 2017, four of the U.S. consultants traveled to Hanoi and provided a presentation of our collaboration at their annual nursing conference. This year, the focus has evolved where the plan is to have the host hospitals present their practice initiatives to nonparticipating hospitals thereby integrating a “train the trainer” approach. As the project continues, the subject matter will evolve, increasing self-reliance and autonomy and allowing for more opportunities for increasing education for the advancement of patient care and the empowerment of Vietnamese nurses.

My personal involvement in the Vietnam Nurse Project began in February 2017 when I was asked to be a U.S. nurse consultant. I was paired with the National Hospital for Tropical Diseases working on their practice improvement initiative, “Fluid and Electrolyte Balance in the Intubated ICU Patient.” This resulted in our Vietnamese nurse partners presenting the study and results at the nurse conference.

My involvement in this project served to emphasize the importance of education. It made me more appreciative of my decision to continue toward an advanced degree and allowed me the opportunity to serve on the board of directors of the Vietnam Nurse Project beginning this year. I look forward to the continued success of the project and hope to continue my own educational experience while expanding education and practice opportunities for nurses in our partnering Vietnamese hospitals.

Susan Veldey is a graduate student in nursing administration at the University of Texas at Arlington.