Oita University of Nursing and Health Sciences is promoting international cooperation in the field of nursing by emphasizing collaborative research and educational activities and by contributing to the development of nursing in developing countries. In 1999 our university entered into academic affiliation agreements with Seoul National University's College of Nursing, Case Western Reserve University's Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing, and Pace University's Lienhard School of Nursing. Part of those agreements is the promotion of joint research and academic activities with our sister institutions. Among our international activities are the following efforts: 
 

The annual Research Exchange Seminar between our university and Seoul National University's College of Nursing was established so that faculty from both institutions could share research results, exchange information on nursing education and practice, and promote collaborative research efforts. The seminar is organized and sponsored by the International Nursing Division of our university and is held at our school every year in March.

Our university is committed to contributing to the development of nursing education and nursing practice in developing countries. Through our Center for Nursing Education, Research and Collaboration (CNERC) we have cooperated with the Japan International Cooperation Agency in development projects and training programs in the field of nursing education and practice in Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and Laos. Our CNERC organizes and dispatches members of our faculty as short-term experts to these countries to participate in the planning and implementation of these efforts. It also receives nurses and teachers of nursing from these and other countries at our university as trainees.

In 2000 we established an annual student exchange program with our sister university, Seoul National University's College of Nursing. The goals of the program are to foster friendship between our students and to lead them to a deeper understanding and appreciation of our two countries and cultures. Every year groups of students visit the other university and get to experience firsthand many clinical and educational facilities at hospitals and out in the community. They also have numerous opportunities for sightseeing and cultural experiences.

We have two student exchange programs with the College of Nursing: a short-term program of eight days for 6 to 8 undergraduate students and a long-term program of two weeks for 1 to 2 graduate students. Faculty members of our respective institutions accompany the short-term exchange groups. We hope that the experiences the participating students receive from this program will benefit them in their studies and future lives as prospective nursing professionals and scholars.

Our university participated in the Japan International Cooperation Agency's "Nursing Education Improvement Project in the Republic of Uzbekistan", which began in 2004. This five-year project was implemented in Uzbekistan to propagate nursing education based on client-oriented nursing. The five principal objectives of the project were to develop the nursing education curriculum, to enhance the quality of teaching by upgrading teaching skills and developing teacher qualifications, to improve teaching methods, to improve the quality of teaching materials, and to improve nursing practice in health care facilities.

Our university's Center for Nursing Education, Research and Collaboration (CNERC) sent faculty members from our Fundamental Nursing, Maternal Nursing, Pediatric Nursing, and Community Health Nursing divisions to Uzbekistan to participate in this project as short-term experts. During their stay, they worked with their Uzbekistani colleagues to develop a new client-based nursing education curriculum along with new teaching methods and materials, and held seminars on the new curriculum and new methods and materials for teachers of nursing. As this mission proceeded, we also held teleconferences between our university and Uzbekistan, and our CNERC received nurses or teachers of nursing from Uzbekistan as trainees.