Cohesion Challenges in a Multicultural Nursing Team

Area of Science:

• Healthcare Management
• Nursing
• Organizational Psychology

Background:

• Global nursing shortages necessitate international recruitment.
• Cultural misunderstandings in diverse healthcare teams can impede cohesion and patient care quality.
• Understanding and addressing multicultural team dynamics is crucial for effective healthcare delivery.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore and describe cohesion challenges within a multicultural nursing team in a Saudi Arabian cardiac center.
• To identify specific difficulties encountered by nurses from diverse cultural backgrounds.
• To understand the support needed from management to overcome these challenges.

Main Methods:

• A descriptive qualitative research design was employed.
• Face-to-face interviews were conducted with 15 participants (5 nurse managers, 10 nurses).
• Thematic data analysis was used to interpret responses to an open-ended question about cohesion challenges and support.

Main Results:

• Key challenges included poor communication, exclusion from decision-making, inadequate team-building, and poor onboarding.
• Team diversity led to member alienation, with internationally recruited nurses feeling pressured to conform.
• Participants focused on challenges, desiring respect, acknowledgment, and value as team members.

Conclusions:

• Multicultural teams often overlook their benefits, focusing instead on functional challenges.
• Nurses desire to be respected, acknowledged, and valued within their teams.
• Investing in cultural competence training, improved communication, and trust-building is essential for enhancing team cohesion.