Developing cultural sensitivity: nursing students' experiences of a study abroad programme

This paper is a report of a study to explore whether having an international learning experience as part of a nursing education programme promoted cultural sensitivity in nursing students. background: Many countries are becoming culturally diverse, but healthcare systems and nursing education often remain mono-cultural and focused on the norms and needs of the majority culture. To meet the needs of all members of multicultural societies, nurses need to develop cultural sensitivity and incorporate this into caregiving.

A Gadamerian hermeneutic phenomenological approach was adopted. Data were collected in 2004 by using in-depth conversational interviews and analysed using the Turner method.

Developing cultural sensitivity involves a complex interplay between becoming comfortable with the experience of making a transition from one culture to another, making adjustments to cultural differences, and growing personally. Central to this process was the students' experience of studying in an unfamiliar environment, experiencing stress and varying degrees of culture shock, and making a decision to take on the ways of the host culture. These actions led to an understanding that being sensitive to another culture required being open to its dynamics, acknowledging social and political structures, and incorporating other people's beliefs about health and illness.

The findings suggest that study abroad is a useful strategy for bridging the theory-practice divide. However, further research is needed with larger and more diverse students to test the generalizability of the findings. Longitudinal research is also needed to assess the impact of study abroad programmes on the deliver of culturally sensitive care.