What impact did a student exchange have on participating nurses in the longer term?

Abstract

Background: The aim of student exchanges in higher education is to develop personal and professional competence. One of the learning outcomes stipulated for the nursing education is the ability to apply knowledge about cultural competence and understanding. Several studies indicate that student exchanges have a large impact on competence development. Objective: The objective of this study was to gain insight into how participation in a 12-week student exchange impacted on nurses 1in the years that followed. Method: We conducted qualitative interviews with seven nurses who took part in a student exchange five years earlier. Results: The nurses described a process in which the exchange helped them develop personal qualities and cultural competence and increased their awareness of how they communicated. In the interviews, the nurses relived situations from their clinical placement in the 'here and now'. Although the nurses found it difficult to define the learning outcomes from the exchange, they indicated that they had learned a great deal. Several of them highlighted how they tried to understand ethnic minority patients and their families and to be understood. Discussion: The nurses said that the exchange had strengthened their personal and professional development, and continues to do so. Meeting people from a different cultural background to their own in a foreign and unfamiliar culture over a period of time reinforced this effect as the nurses had to find new ways to mobilise their personal and professional resources. Conclusion: The exchange had a lasting impact on the nurses' personal awareness, professional development and competence development. Meeting people in different situations over a period of time in an unfamiliar culture also helped to strengthen their cultural competence. The nurses found that cultural competence is important for practising nursing in a multicultural society, and that it is difficult to obtain this competence in clinical placements in Norway. However, more research is needed into nurses' experiences from student exchanges, where the focus is on the impact of the exchange on their professional practice.