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NURSING PROFESSOR AT IUPUI HELPS MEXICO DEVELOP FIRST NURSING DOCTORAL PROGRAM

INDIANAPOLIS - When IU School of Nursing Professor Connie Baker received her bachelor's degree in nursing 40 years ago, she made a silent commitment to invest in nursing's future worldwide.

And she has once again lived up to that promise by helping a university in Mexico develop that country's first doctoral degree in nursing. In November, officials at the Universidad Autonoma de Nuevo Leon (UANL) approved the degree, which Baker says will ensure better educated faculty and ongoing nursing research. They hope to begin offering the program this fall.

"To have a Ph.D. program communicates a message to other healthcare professionals that nurses are capable of earning a Ph.D. and able to conduct research on clinical issues," she said. "There will be a new sense of pride among all nurses in Mexico."

Baker, a former dean of both the IU School of Nursing and the University of South Carolina College of Nursing, has been invited to share her expertise with nursing programs at universities around the world. But working with UANL in Monterrey, Mexico, gave her the chance to have a real impact on the future of nursing in that country.

The university invited her to help in March of 1999 and Baker has made two trips to the university since, working to ensure they have the proper environment to support such a program. She has helped boost the library's holdings, helped develop and recruit properly-prepared faculty, helped establish an on-campus nursing honor society, helped put the proper technology in place, supported nursing faculty research, and helped create networks with other academic disciplines and nursing schools.

She has been invited to return to UANL this summer to help faculty conduct research and to continue working with the honor society in its application to become a chapter of Sigma Theta Tau, an international nursing society.

She is also currently mentoring a master's student from UANL who is applying for acceptance into the IU School of Nursing's doctoral program in preparation for becoming a faculty member in the new doctoral program.

Baker also hopes to create a working relationship between IU and UANL, enabling students to study abroad, participate in teleconferencing, or collaborate on research projects.

"Graduate students need exposure to real international nursing issues," said Baker.

Baker has also worked with a university in the Philippines, which is starting a nursing doctoral program, and has visited South Africa several times to discuss the implementation of managed care in the country and explore potential collaborations on research.

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