Background: In June 2005, four faculty members from Temple University, Philadelphia, USA, conducted a nursing educator workshop in Hue, Viet Nam. Didactic and clinical instruction addressed paediatric, maternity, psychiatric and surgical nursing content as well as instructional methods and student evaluation techniques. This educator workshop was requested as means of increasing the professionalization of nursing in Viet Nam. Student nurses in Viet Nam are taught by physician-faculty. Between the cultural and economic factors that contribute to the current status and practice of nursing in Viet Nam and the lack of nurse educator role models, the nursing profession has many obstacles to overcome in their quest for increased autonomy.
Actions: During the workshop, in addition to modelling interactive teaching methods as they taught the classroom and clinical content, these authors also demonstrated the level of knowledge expected of nurses in the USA.
Conclusions: Despite much advance planning for this workshop, there were many challenges for the USA faculty. Some of the lessons learned which might help others included having a sense of humour, maintaining flexibility in teaching styles and content, being prepared for the cultural and religious influences on health care, and utilizing all of one's nursing skills to find creative solutions when teaching nursing in another country.