Penn's smallest school is dealing with a large-scale epidemic.
In the past few years, the School of Nursing has been working on thinking globally, but the recent outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome reinforces the importance for nurses to have an international perspective.
SARS is a respiratory illness that has been reported in several countries. Its origins are currently unknown, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. So far, cases have been reported in China, Thailand, Germany, Canada, Vietnam, Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Spain and Slovenia.
There are eleven suspected cases of SARS in the U.S.
The problem with SARS is that its pneumonia-like symptoms do not respond to the usual pneumonia treatment, Dean of the School of Nursing Afaf Meleis said.
There are different theories on how the disease developed, but scientists are not clear on what it is or how to treat it.
"There are speculations about evolving viruses and bacteria," Meleis said. "There are a lot of new diseases of which we have no knowledge.... We don't know how to treat it, we don't know what it is..., how long the person is contagious and how they are contagious."
Because of the ease of international travel in the 21st century, SARS has spread to several different countries rather quickly.
"Disease knows no boundaries of culture, language and religion, so healthcare workers, too, must learn to work across cultures and be culturally competent in order to stop global transmission of disease," Meleis said.
Up until now, researchers in the country have not been as focused on studying infectious diseases.
"Now there will be more interest in the U.S. about infectious disease... and a new emphasis in our curriculum," Meleis said.
Nursing professor Janet Deatrick said that the Nursing faculty stay current with public health issues such as SARS and bring them to the classroom.
"The School of Nursing will, of course, include information in our courses about SARS as it becomes available," Nursing professor Karen Buhler-Wilkerson said.
Thinking globally has been a theme in Nursing School curricula.
"We certainly have had more concerns about global issues for the past 10 years, as we live in an increasingly global community," Deatrick wrote in an e-mail. "Our new dean is... pushing academia to think and act globally."
Nursing undergraduates have said that culture and globalization have become the new buzz words in their classes and in the nursing profession in general.
Nursing sophomore Sabrina Ahn said several classes that she has taken have sections on the cultural aspects of medicine, and students are being taught to be aware of the different attitudes among cultures toward medication.
Sensitivity toward different groups "is a big part of nursing because sometimes, different cultures have different practices," Nursing senior Victoria Beebe said. "Learning about other cultures is a big part of every class."
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in conjunction with the World Health Organization, is working on isolating the disease and learning how to treat it.
