The Rising Star in International Transcultural Nursing

Long before a family namesake has carved a niche in a different field, there is one Filipino (or, a Filipina) whose contribution to nursing has earned recognition not only in America but worldwide.


Dr. Dula Pacquiao is a star in the international transcultural nursing movement, already close to achieving an iconic status in that field. She is ,in fact according to some colleagues, the next Madeleine Leininger--the founder of the transcultural nursing.


Dr. Pacquiao is currently a nursing professor from the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ). Recently, she received the 2007 Humanism in Healthcare Award from the Healthcare Foundation of New Jersey.

Dula Pacquiao, EdD, RN, of Edison, is associate professor and director of the Stanley Bergen, Jr. Center for Multicultural Education, Research, and Practice at UMDNJ-School of Nursing. An internationally known expert in Transcultural Nursing, she is director of the Transcultural Nursing Scholars organization, and senior editor of the Journal of the Transcultural Nursing Society.


Her awards include the Excellence in Nursing Education Award from the New Jersey State Nurses Association, the Leininger Award for Transcultural Nursing Leadership from the International Transcultural Nursing Society, the Research Award from the Philippine Nurses Association of America, and the Professional Leadership Award from the Teachers College Alumni Association at Columbia University. She earned her EdD in Anthropology of Education from Rutgers University, her MA in Curriculum & Instruction from Columbia University, New York and her BS in Nursing from the University of the Philippines in Manila.

Knowing her hectic schedule and doing our constant follow up, Professor Pacquiao finally send her reply. After all, it's worth waiting the star.

What is the state of transcultural nursing today?

There are 2 events that increased the significance of this field today. One is the demographic changes in the country which highlighted the ineffectiveness of the “usual healthcare” for all groups. Healthcare practitioners and agencies are confronted by different groups of people with different values, beliefs and practices as well as communication and language patterns that impact on health outcomes and care effectiveness. The Office of Minority Health, Joint Commission on Accreditation of Hospitals and states’ Departments of Health have endorsed the Cultural and Linguistically Appropriate Standards for Healthcare Services for all healthcare facilities. Some standards such as provision of language interpreters at all points of care are legally mandated. Health care organizations are expected to provide resources to ensure cultural competence of staff.

The Institute of Medicine’s Report, Unequal Burden has documented existence of health disparities that disadvantage ethnic and racial groups. In another report, Unequal Treatment, the IOM has documented evidence of prejudicial treatment of patients based on race and ethnicity which debunked the old supposition that poor health is due mainly to low socioeconomic status. Many research since then have indicated that race and ethnic concordance between patients and practitioners does make effective care.

The mandate for cultural competence development and need to increase representation of racial and ethnic minorities in health professions are some of the issues that transcultural nurses have always fought for. There are about four states that require physicians to complete a course on cultural competent care as a condition for licensure and relicensure. NJ was the first one to legislate this requirement.

On her research and teaching involvement

My research and teaching interests have always centered on cultural diversity in education and health care, cross cultural theory and research methods. Some of the studies that I have published include social and cultural influences in aging, teaching and learning, ethics, end-of-life care, attitudes towards psychological and mental illness, motherhood, and communication. These have involved Filipinos, Africans, Hispanics, Russians and white American groups. I have designed a program to enhance acculturation of foreign-educated nurses in the US healthcare, that has been ongoing in NJ since 2001.

The PhD in Urban Health Systems is a non-nursing degree with a concentration on the social and cultural determinants of health. It is jointly offered by UMDNJ-Rutgers University and the NJ Institute of Technology. It has a broader perspective about health that is grounded not just in biomedical sciences but more importantly in social, cultural and environmental phenomena. For example, the combined effect of social isolation, discrimination, poverty, and urbanization result in poor health that create a lifetime disadvantage for certain groups. Hence, remedies are not in treating the disease but in improving the social conditions in which people live.

On her academic and community involvement

I am a member of the Advisory Board of the PNA, NJ as I was one of its former Presidents. I am a member of the Sigma Theta Tau, Lambda Iota Chapter and the UP Alumni Association of NJ. I have not been as actively involved because of my other professional involvement as Director of the Transcultural Nursing Scholars (international organization of transcultural nursing experts), member of the Joint Expert Panel on Global Standards for Culturally-congruent Care between the American Academy of Nursing and Transcultural Nursing Society, member of the Advisory Committee on Cultural Competence in Baccalaureate Nursing Education for the American Association of Colleges of Nursing, and Associate Editor of the Journal of Transcultural Nursing.

As the Director of the Stanley Bergen Center for Multicultural Education, Research and Practice, I provide approximately 20 consultations and educational programs relevant to cultural competence and cultural diversity in health care, annually. I just came back from Botswana to give a week-long workshop for nursing educators in the country regarding HIV/AIDS prevention and care. I am planning to go back on a Fullbright Scholarship to continue the work I have begun.

On her future plans

I welcome the opportunity to collaborate with Filipino educators and researchers in the future . In the past I have been more involved and I hope that the opportunity will come soon.

Striving to Put Filipino Nurses in the Forefront of Healthcare

After six runs, we at the GFNR is very pleased to get on board for the October edition no less than the most visible nurse leader in the Philippines.

As a national president of the Philippine Nurses Association, Dr. Leah Primitiva Samaco-Paquiz is on a regular media and travel circuit representing the Association in advocacy, lobbying, among other things. The latest involvement is on the Association's stand in highly-critical Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement (JPEPA) . (Editor's note: Under the JPEPA, only 400 Filipino nurses and 600 caregivers would be allowed into Japan in the first two years, subject to re-negotiation thereafter. Filipino nurses and caregivers would have to undergo a six-month language training.)

Well, our leader is ever ready in the battlefield.

Dr. Paquiz got her Master of Arts in Nursing and Bachelor of Science in Nursing degrees from Trinity University of Asia. A consistent scholar, she finished her Doctor of Education, major in Educational Administration and Master of Public Health from the University of the Philippines.


Her fruitful and best years were spent as the dean of Trinity University of Asia, St. Luke’s College of Nursing, known today as one of the No. 1 in the 2007 Philippine Nurses Licensure Examination. She shared her passion and potentials for nursing to Adamson University and the Systems Technology Institute as the Founding Dean of the College of Nursing.


In 2003, she worked in the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) as a member of the Technical Committee on Nursing Education.


She served ADPCN for the past nine years from 1997 up to 2006 holding different positions as an officer and member of the Board of Directors.


In 2004 and 2006, while serving as Governor of NCR Zone 2, she was the VP for Programs and Development of the Philippine Nurses Association and was the Over -all Chairperson of the 82nd and 84th Foundation Anniversary, 47th and 49th Nurses Week Celebration and Annual Convention with an evaluation rating of Excellent.

Before she became a Dean, she served the community and the Filipino people as a Public Health Nurse in the Department of Education Culture and Sports, Division of City Schools, Quezon City.

She ventured to know how it is like to be in other countries, so she worked as a Staff Nurse in Goldwater Memorial Hospital, Roosevelt Island, New York. But because of her strong national identity and love for country, she came back to serve her native land.

On her non-nursing involvement

She loves to serve the Lord. She has served as a Choir Director for ten years and performed even in Meralco Theater and the Phil Am Auditorium. Now, she is teaching Children’s Choir that includes her two grandchildren ageing seven and five.


She worked for the plight of sexually abused children, the abuser and the family of the abused and abuser as a whole. She was the Vice-President of the Board of Directors for ten years of the Center for the Prevention and Treatment of Child Sexual Abuse, and served as its President at the end of her term.


At present, she is the President of St. Luke’s Nurses Alumni Foundation, Inc. She is also the President of the Pastoral Council of the Filipino Evangel Christian Church.


From 2002 up to 2005, she was the International Consultant for Nursing Education and Nursing Practice in Rumah Sakit Immanuel and the College of Nursing in Bandung, Indonesia


With her quest for knowledge, she represented her beloved Philippines to other countries and did paper presentations in Switzerland, United States, Israel, Indonesia, Hong Kong, and Japan.


She was given the award “TANGING PAGPAPAHALAGA sa Paglilingkod sa Kapwa sa Larangan ng “Welfare and Charitable Services” from the Malabon City Government.


However, the most coveted of all her accolades is an ideal family. She is a loving wife to Engineer Samuel Paquiz, a businessman, she is a doting mother to Titus, a businessman, Haya, a doctor, Faye, a lawyer and Paul, an account executive. She is the Lila (grandmother) of three active and intelligent children, Alexine, Jolo and Ram.

Her never ending quest in life: believing in the nursing profession; striving to put nurses in the forefront of healthcare, and very important, is serving God, country and the people.