Perspectives on enhancing international practical training of students in health and social care study programs - A qualitative descriptive case study

Being an international nursing student in Turkey: A qualitative study

PURPOSE

The purpose of this study is to explore the perspectives of international nursing students in Turkey on their learning experience.

DESIGN AND METHODS

Qualitative semi-structured individual interviews and focus group interviews were used to explore nursing students' perspectives on their learning experiences in Turkey. The research population comprised 10 international students.

RESULTS

The students expressed fear of being rejected by patients in a clinical setting, as well as feelings of isolation and discrimination. They feel foreign and experience the typical prejudice against their color and language.

PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS

Educators should take language and cultural differences into consideration and should listen to international students regarding education methods. Teachers of international students, both academic and clinical, need to be cognizant of the "otherness" of international students.

Australian and Indian nursing students' skills and attitudes surrounding mental illness: Preparing for a transnational nursing education collaboration

Cultural competence is a viewed as a necessary set of skills within nursing, and there is a need for student support in this area. This is particularly important in mental health care, with two skills considered crucial for providing quality care: therapeutic relationship skills and positive attitudes. With the objective of initiating an educational collaboration between two educational institutions, this study examined Australian and Indian undergraduate nursing student's perceived therapeutic relationship skills and stigma attitudes associated with mental illness. Participants were five hundred and fifty-five (n = 555) undergraduate nursing students from two different universities in Indian and Australia. The modified version of the Scale To Assess Therapeutic Relationship (STAR-C) and the Social Distance Scale (SDS) were both used to examine student's perceived therapeutic relationship skills and stigma attitudes. Australian nursing students indicated lower levels of stigma with lower levels of self-reported therapeutic relationships skills, as compared with the Indian nursing student cohort. However, Indian nursing students indicated higher levels of stigma with higher self-reported therapeutic relationship skills. The results of this study may reflect cultural differences and meanings attached to mental illness.

International Student Mobility in Radiography: Agency and Experience

PURPOSE

The purpose of the study was to evaluate student exchange experiences to gain insight into what students perceived as benefits, challenges, and overall areas for improvement that might inform and enhance future exchange projects.

METHODS

A general program evaluation survey, adapted to address the project objectives, was conducted. Eight students from Norway, Canada, and South Africa participating in an international exchange project completed an online survey. The responses were coded and organized in themes such as pre-exchange preparation, home/host country support, challenges, and new learning.

RESULTS & CONCLUSIONS

Despite the challenges the students experienced, students indicated advantages such as new learning, personal development, and expanded professional knowledge. Students gained an international perspective and deeper understanding of their profession and insight into the similarities and differences in clinical practice emphasizing the importance of creating global citizens through internationalization in radiography education. These student experiences confirmed their agency in disposition, motivation, self-efficacy, and position.

Competence evaluation processes for nursing students abroad: Findings from an international case study

BACKGROUND

Assessing clinical competence in nursing students abroad is a challenge, and requires both methods and instruments capable of capturing the multidimensional nature of the clinical competences acquired.

OBJECTIVES

The aim of the study was to compare the clinical competence assessment processes and instruments adopted for nursing students during their clinical placement abroad.

DESIGN

A case study design was adopted in 2015.

SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS

A purposeful sample of eight nursing programmes located in seven countries (Belgium, Denmark, Greece, Norway, Poland, Portugal and Italy) were approached.

METHODS

Tools as instruments for evaluating competences developed in clinical training by international nursing students, and written procedures aimed at guiding the evaluation process, were scrutinised through a content analysis method.

FINDINGS

All clinical competence evaluation procedures and instruments used in the nursing programmes involved were provided in English. A final evaluation of the competences was expected by all nursing programmes at the end of the clinical placement, while only four provided an intermediate evaluation. Great variability emerged in the tools, with between five and 88 items included. Through content analysis, 196 items emerged, classified into 12 different core competence categories, the majority were categorised as 'Technical skills' (=60), 'Self-learning and critical thinking' (=27) and 'Nursing care process' (=25) competences. Little emphasis was given in the tools to competences involving 'Self-adaptation', 'Inter-professional skills', 'Clinical documentation', 'Managing nursing care', 'Patient communication', and 'Theory and practice integration'.

CONCLUSIONS

Institutions signing Bilateral Agreements should agree upon the competences expected from students during their clinical education abroad. The tools used in the process, as well as the role expected by the student, should also be agreed upon. Intercultural competences should be further addressed in the process of evaluation, in addition to adaptation to different settings. There is also a need to establish those competences achievable or not in the host country, aiming at increasing transparency in learning expectations and evaluation.