title: Searching for collaboration in international nursing partnerships: a literature review.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Nurses from low-income countries (LICs) face extreme nursing shortages, faculty shortages and a lack of professional development opportunities. Nurses from high-income countries (HICs) can leverage their wealth of resources to collaborate with nursing colleagues in LICs to expand clinical, education and research capacity. In turn, nurses from HICs gain stronger competency in the care they provide, improved communication skills and an increased understanding of global health issues.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of this literature review is to identify international nursing clinical, education and research partnerships among nurses from LICs and HICs and to analyse the degree of collaboration involved in each partnership using DeSantis' counterpart concept.
  
  
  METHODS
  We conducted a systematic review of international nursing partnerships in the scientific literature from January 2001 to July 2012. A total of nine articles met inclusion criteria for analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  All of the articles discuss lessons learnt in building international nursing partnerships among nurses from HICs and LICs. However, the articles failed to meet the criteria set forth by DeSantis' counterpart concept to achieve fully collaborative nursing partnerships.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  International nursing partnerships require more foresight and planning to create partnerships in which the benefits derived by nurses from LICs equal those of their colleagues from HICs. By striving for such collaboration, international nursing partnerships can help build nursing clinical, education and research capacity in LICs.
authors: Partners In Health, Boston, MA 02215, USA. egeorge@pih.org
authors: E K
authors: EK
authors: George
authors: M
authors: M
authors: Meadows-Oliver
mesh_terms: D002983:Clinical Competence; D003142:Communication; D004506:Education, Nursing; D014943:Global Health; D006801:Humans; D007391:International Cooperation; D009729:Nursing