Strangers among strangers: clients and health practitioners in health care settings

This paper describes a course assignment designed to sensitise nursing students to the meaning of the experience of being a stranger in a cultural setting where the norms and rules for behaviour are unclear or essentially unknown. This experience alerts the student to be aware of the possibility that people's usual responses to strangers in unfamiliar settings, may be an inhibitory factor in the development of a therapeutic relationship between the nurse, and other health practitioners, and their clients. Discussion is centred on the student learning which occurs, both personally and professionally, in the conduct of this assignment.