Undergraduate nursing students' perspectives of intercultural communication: A qualitative descriptive study

Enhancing communication within nursing and multiprofessional healthcare teams

Effective communication within nursing and multiprofessional healthcare teams is essential to promote patient safety. However, communication is a complex concept comprising various elements and variables that affect how messages are delivered, received and interpreted. In this article, the author explores communication within healthcare teams and provides some insight into the factors that affect team communication, such as interpersonal relationships. The author also explores organisational culture and cultural sensitivity, and discusses some evidence-based approaches to enhancing communication within healthcare teams.

Predictors of nursing students' intentions to participate in an internationalization-at-home program: The roles of expectancies for success and subjective task value

BACKGROUND

Internationalization-at-home programs are a unique opportunity for those who had been planning to study abroad to learn global clinical practices and cultures at home. However, the factors influencing the motivation of students to join such programs remain unexplored.

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the relationship among expectancies for success, subjective task value, and the intention to participate in an internationalization-at-home program, and to identify key factors predicting such an intention among undergraduate nursing students.

DESIGN

A descriptive correlational design with a predictive approach was adopted.

METHODS

A total of 522 undergraduate and postgraduate nursing students in a Hong Kong university participated in the study. Intention to participate in the program was assessed using the Comprehensive Relative Autonomy Index. Expectancies for success and subjective task value were assessed as potential predictors. A multiple linear regression analysis was adopted to examine the predictive effects.

RESULTS

The participants were aged 17-31 years (mean = 20.95, SD = 2.39). Those who reported having previously participated in the program (β = 0.10, p-value = .014), greater intercultural communication competence (β = 0.14, p-value = .003), greater perceived social competence (β = 0.11, p-value = .031), and a higher subjective value of the program (β = 0.28, p-value<.001) expressed a greater intention to join the program. Collectively, the three variables accounted for 14.7 % of the variances in intention to participate in the program.

CONCLUSIONS

Cultural self-efficacy, intercultural communication competence, perceived social competence, individual interest, foreign language learning motivation, and subjective value of the program were found to be key factors predicting the intention of nursing students to participate in internationalization-at-home. Future studies can provide interventions to address these factors and enhance the benefits of internationalization-at-home programs.

The Challenges in the Care of Immigrant Children in the Clinic: A Phenomenological Study

INTRODUCTION

The aim of this study is to thoroughly examine the challenges experienced by pediatric nurses providing care for the children of immigrant families and to contribute to the solutions that can be provided.

METHOD

Phenomenological research design was used in this qualitative study. Semi-structured interviews were performed with face-to-face technique and individually.

RESULTS

Four categories, ten main themes and twenty-four sub-themes were obtained in the analysis of data. The themes included communication barriers and cultural differences in the category of difficulties that the nurses experienced with immigrant patients or their relatives, nurses' practices, communication barriers and cultural differences in the category of problems that the nurses experienced in the care.

DISCUSSION

It was determined that nurses experienced difficulty, especially in the areas of communication, culture and education. These difficulties were reported to cause disruptions in the care and treatment process of immigrant patients.

Using cultural safety to enhance nursing care for children and young people

People from minority groups frequently experience adversity in various aspects of their lives, including when accessing healthcare services. Culture has a significant role in all healthcare encounters between nurses, multidisciplinary teams, and children and young people and their families. This article defines culture and explains the importance of considering people's cultural values, beliefs and practices when providing care. It outlines the principles of cultural safety - an approach that incorporates ideas such as cultural awareness, sensitivity and competence - and describes how it can enhance the care of children and young people from a wide range of backgrounds.

A concept analysis of intercultural communication

AIM

To explore the concept of intercultural communication.

BACKGROUND

As global migration increases, countries around the world are starting to see diversity among their population. With this increasing multicultural society, effective communication is crucial, particularly in the area of healthcare. Intercultural nursing requires nurses to care for patients of various cultural backgrounds by considering their cultural needs. It is critical for nurses to be able to communicate effectively with patients of various cultures to provide care that is holistic and culturally appropriate to the diverse population.

METHODS

Walker and Avant's eight-step approach to concept analysis.

RESULTS

Intercultural communication in nursing is face-to-face, verbal or nonverbal communication that occurs between people of different cultures. Its defining attributes are (1) meeting between language and culture for a specific purpose and (2) face-to-face (in-person or virtual) human interaction between individuals from different cultures. Antecedents of intercultural communication in nursing are globalization, technology, and social environment. Consequences include reduced ethnocentrism and negative stereotyping. Empirical referents depict the existence of the concept, which includes several tools developed as a means to measure or evaluate intercultural communication.

CONCLUSION

This study presented the defining attributes, antecedents and consequences, model case, and empirical referents of intercultural communication.

Evaluating the Effectiveness of Cultural Education Training: Cultural Competence and Cultural Intelligence Development among Nursing Students

BACKGROUND

Since 2012, education standards in medical faculties in Poland have allowed medical universities to introduce content related to multiculturalism. On the one hand, this creates a necessity to introduce new strategies, forms, and techniques of education aimed at the development of knowledge, skills, and attitudes in terms of multiculturalism. On the other hand, there is a need to evaluate their effects. The main goal of this study was to evaluate the cultural competence and cultural intelligence of master's degree nursing students before the commencement of and two months after cultural education training in the form of the intercultural communication workshops included in the study program.

METHODS

The following questionnaires were used in the study: the Cross-Cultural Competence Inventory (CCCI) and the Cultural Intelligence Scale (CQS). Two consecutive classes (2019 and 2020) of master's nursing students were tested twice (pre-test, post-test). The study was conducted at a leading medical university that educates nurses at a master's level in Poland. In total, 130 master's nursing students took part in this evaluative study: 64 individuals in 2019 (study 1) and 66 individuals in 2020 (study 2).

RESULTS

In comparison to the pre-test, the post-test showed that the surveyed students in both study 1 and study 2 obtained significantly higher overall results in terms of cultural intelligence (p = 0.001; p = 0.004, respectively) as well as in the behavioral (p = 0.001; p = 0.002) and cognitive (p = 0.001; p = 0.008, respectively) subscales. The cultural competence results were also higher overall, but the difference was insignificant.

CONCLUSIONS

The study shows the efficiency of training/workshops in the development of culturally specific knowledge and cultural intervention skills. At the same time, it postulates the need to plan and organize cultural education programs in a form that aims to improve the development of culturally sensitive attitudes.