Clinical exchange: one model to achieve culturally sensitive care

This paper reports on a clinical exchange programme that formed part of a pre-registration European nursing degree run by three collaborating institutions in England, Holland and Spain. The course included: common and shared learning including two summer schools; and the development of a second language before the students went on a three-month clinical placement in one of the other base institutions' clinical environments. The aim of the course was to enable students to become culturally sensitive carers. This was achieved by developing a programme based on transcultural nursing principles in theory and practice. Data were gathered by interview, focus groups, and questionnaires from 79 exchange students, fostering the strategies of illuminative evaluation. The paper examines: how the aims of the course were met; the factors that inhibited the attainment of certain goals; and how the acquisition of a second language influenced the students' learning about nursing. A model is presented to illustrate the process of transformative learning from the exchange experience.