Establishing Global Partnerships - University of Pennsylvania ...

CAROL TISHELMAN, PHD, RN
INFLUENCING EDUCATIONAL GOALS
“At Hadassah and ultimately through
my advanced studies at Penn, I have
created a network with faculty and students
and we are really working together
in key professional and personal
relationships,” said Dr. Rom. “Penn faculty
have really served as role models
in all levels of practice.”
Born and raised in the Bronx, Carol
Tishelman, PhD, RN, first went to
Sweden as an undergraduate in women’s
studies, considered a medical career,
and stayed in Sweden working in a longterm
health care facility. That cemented
her interest in nursing. A Penn Nursing
alum, she is now associate professor,
senior lecturer, and acting dean at
Karolinska Institute, having just been
named to a prestigious senior
researcher position for six years by the
Swedish National Research Council.
Speaking of her expatriate status, Dr.
Tishelman noted, “I’ve felt comfortable in
Sweden in the national commitment to
equal access to health care with the
commitment to vulnerable populations
that implies. That leads to less dissonance
for me in terms of the values I’ve
been socialized to at Penn. But the
health care system in Sweden now
needs to adapt to be better able to support
very diverse populations with very
diverse needs,” said Dr. Tishelman.
Nursing in Sweden, as elsewhere around
the world, has undergone radical change
in the past few decades. Whereas a
decade ago there were still few doctorally
prepared nurses, Dr. Tishelman now
presides over an institution with 40 doctoral
students. The process is quite rigorous
in Sweden, requiring four or five
published articles and a thesis tying
them all together within four years.
Her current work includes an action
research project, attempting to close
some of the gaps that exist between
cancer nursing research, practice, and
education in people with advanced cancer.
Under her influence, undergraduate
education now includes problem-based
learning with increased input from and
feedback to nurses in clinical settings.
For doctoral students, there is a different
emphasis, specifically, “How is your
education relevant to advance the
knowledge base of nursing?” Dr.
Tishelman asked. This is one of the
questions she hopes students will be
able to answer. To share knowledge and
advance the science, Karolinska Institute
and Penn have signed a letter of intent
to form a collaboration to enhance
knowledge on both sides of the Atlantic.
As nursing proceeds towards global
influence, Dr. Tishelman posits that nurses
operating within different cultures
need to recognize how much they can
learn from each other. “If there is a
common denominator in nursing, what is
it?” asks Dr. Tishelman.
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