The acculturation, language and learning experiences of international nursing students: Implications for nursing education
Introduction
The premise of this paper is that language acquisition and education acculturation are major challenges for international nursing students in achieving optimal student learning (Lum et al., 2015, Wang et al., 2008). Students who do not have a full grasp of the language and/or the new education culture will not progress as well as those who do. Together these factors have the potential to impact the student experience of education, student learning outcomes, graduate attributes and consequently the quality of the practice of the novice registered nurse. Tertiary education institutions, nurse academics and nurse educators need to develop strategies that address these major challenges to provide a safe place for students to learn, explore nursing knowledge and practice nursing safely (Crawford and Candlin, 2013, Shaw et al., 2015).
Section snippets
Background
Worldwide, students travel to further their education for secondary and/or tertiary educational experiences and qualifications. In the tertiary education sector, students who enrol in universities outside their country of citizenship, in either on-shore or offshore programs, are known as ‘international students’ (Arkoudis et al., 2012). International students have also been described as, ‘foreign’, or ‘overseas’ students. For the purpose of this discussion, they will be referred to as
Methods
This qualitative inquiry aimed to explore the learning and acculturation experiences of international nursing students studying within a School of Nursing and Midwifery at one Australian university. It aimed to address the question “how do international nursing students experience learning within a School of Nursing and Midwifery?” The study informed a larger participatory action research (PAR) project that aimed to promote enhanced experiences for international students (Del Fabbro et al., 2015
Results
Seventeen (17) international nursing students were interviewed; the sample comprised 10 undergraduates and seven (7) post-graduates, all of which did not have English as their first language. Nine (9) interviews were conducted one-on-one and there were three (3) group interviews (2–3 participants). Two major themes were identified from the student data, Expressing myself and Finding my place.
Discussion
Expressing myself and Finding my place are the two major themes that describe international nursing students' experiences of studying in a new country. Each major theme comprises three distinct but related sub-themes (Table 3). In this analysis, themes incorporate aspects that could be considered supporting or hindering.
Pivotal to the Expressing myself theme is the sub-theme of language. The existing literature on international students identifies language as a precursor for adjustment (
Conclusions
This study reported on the experiences of international nursing students studying at one campus of an Australian university. The study findings replicate and provide support for some findings that have already been identified; specifically that language acquisition and acculturation are important for international student learning. The study highlights the need for international nursing students to have time to learn in a place that is safe so as to thrive in the university learning community.
Acknowledgements
A Griffith Health Group Learning and Teaching Grant funded this project.
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2023, CollegianCitation Excerpt :Evidence from an Australian study shows that international nursing students studying in Australia tended to experience a higher level of stress during clinical placements when compared to domestic nursing students (Khawaja et al., 2017). Mitchell et al. (2017) defined international nursing students as students enrolled in nursing courses outside their country of citizenship. For example, nursing students who come from non-western countries might be challenged by the need to acculturate to the social norms, cultural traits, and educational patterns of the Australian academic and health care systems (Mitchell et al., 2017; Vardaman & Mastel-Smith, 2016).