Seeding Planting with the Glen Taylor Nursing Institute for Family and Society
In early 2024, Dr. Sabrina Ehmke was appointed as an Affiliate Faculty Member of the Glen Taylor Nursing Institute for Family and Society. Her goal was to support the work of Education Committees, Writing Groups, International Visitor Work Groups, and the International Family Nursing Association (IFNA). Affiliation with the Institute carried more than a title. The mission is to plant seeds of collaboration and scholarship that could grow into healthier families and communities worldwide.
That mission quickly came to life on her own campus. In March 2025, Dr. Sandy Richardson from Christchurch, New Zealand, and Dr. Fusako Takahashi from Kansai University visited Minnesota State University, Mankato. Dr. Ehmke hosted Dr. Richardson during her stay and spent time with Takahashi, strengthening ties with Kansai University. Students from Kansai joined her classroom, where they explored the role of community health and school-based nursing in the U.S. These exchanges gave Kansai students a firsthand glimpse of how American nurses engage families and schools to promote health. At the same time, they reminded MSU-Mankato students that the challenges of public health are deeply interconnected across borders.
The first blossoms of this affiliation came in June 2025, when the Glen Taylor Institute supported Dr. Ehmke's participation in the International Family Nursing Association Conference in Perth, Australia (June 17–20, 2025). There, she presented Aging in Place: Fostering Family-Centered Care and Community Ties. Her session highlighted the power of family-centered care in reducing loneliness and strengthening community ties among older adults. The conversations sparked at IFNA highlighted how nurses everywhere are being challenged with the same questions: How can we best care for aging populations? How do we honor families as partners in health?
From Perth, Dr. Ehmke traveled to Christchurch, New Zealand, where Dr. Sandy Richardson hosted her. She presented Public Health Nursing in America: School-Aged Health Needs to the Canterbury Public Health Nursing Service through a partnership established by Dr. Anna Richardson, who is part of the Pacific Writing Group. Additionally, she delivered Public Health in America to faculty and students at the Ara Institute of Canterbury. While there, she made a connection that will result in her introducing Dementia Friends to the Ara faculty late this month. An effort that mirrored her commitment to advancing dementia awareness globally.
Planted seeds set the stage for the next chapter: Japan. In July 2025, Dr. Ehmke traveled to Osaka, representing MSU Mankato's School of Nursing and the Glen Taylor Institute during International Week at Osaka Medical and Pharmaceutical University (OMPU). Serving as both faculty liaison and international speaker, she guided an RN-BS student through comparative healthcare learning, ensuring the experience aligned with outcomes such as healthcare policy, family and societal health, and intercultural competence.
Her contributions included invited lectures on Becoming a Dementia Friend at Kansai University (July 3, 2025) and at OMPU (July 4, 2025). These sessions raised awareness about dementia-friendly practices and demonstrated how international partnerships can address pressing global health priorities. Between lectures, she shared a meal with the Kansai faculty and participated in a cultural visit to Kyoto. At OMPU, she engaged with faculty, medical, and nursing staff to learn about Japanese healthcare delivery and public health initiatives.
Throughout the week, Dr. Ehmke also connected with students from Thomas More University in Belgium and the National University of Taiwan who were participating in OMPU's international week, building relationships that may blossom into future collaborations. The week concluded on July 5 with a celebratory exchange where OMPU students prepared traditional food, hosted matcha tea-making, calligraphy, and games. An experience that blended joy, culture, and community.
Beyond her teaching role, Dr. Ehmke demonstrated her commitment to the mission of the Glen Taylor Nursing Institute for Family and Society by engaging in research meetings, hospital site visits, and collaborative discussions that emphasized respect for diverse perspectives. She launched a joint research study with OMPU, focusing on student empathy, and pledged to continue the partnership through future presentations on student well-being and coping strategies, scheduled for March 2026. These efforts reflected not only her dedication to international nursing scholarship but also her belief in fostering stronger families and communities through global collaboration.
From Perth, Australia, to Christchurch, New Zealand, and from Osaka, Japan, to Mankato, Minnesota, 2025 was a season of seeding and planting. Seeds were planted in conference halls where ideas about aging and family care were exchanged, in classrooms where students compared nursing practices across countries, and in celebratory meals where cultural exchange became a form of learning.
For the Glen Taylor Nursing Institute for Family and Society, this work embodies its mission: fostering global collaboration to strengthen families and communities. And for Dr. Sabrina Ehmke, being an affiliate faculty member means tending these seeds, nurturing them with care, and watching them grow into blossoms of global partnership, cultural exchange, and a nursing practice rooted in compassion.
