International Exchanges by College Nursing Students: “International Comparisons of Awareness and Challenges”

Abstract

Aim: The aim of this study was to determine the extent of awareness of international exchanges among college nursing students in Japan and other countries and to identify strategies to improve awareness. Method: This is an integrative literature review, consisting of scientific articles published on “Ichushi-Web,” an Internet-based retrieval service by the Japan Medical Abstracts Society (JAMAS) and Google Scholar for domestic documents and, PubMed, Medline, Cochrane library and Google Scholar for foreign documents. We employed search parameters for “the years from 2000 to 2017” in combination with “international educational exchange”, “schools, nursing”, “students, nursing”, “program evaluation”, and “awareness.” Result: The data were extracted from seven documents among a review of 29 retrieved domestic documents written in Japanese, and another seven documents among a review of 111 retrieved foreign documents written in English. All documents from Japan were reports of quantitative studies, and most documents from other countries were qualitative studies. The data from Japanese research reports were classified into four perspectives: interest in international exchange, need to participate in international exchange, understanding of different cultures and awareness of foreign settlers. The data from research reports from other countries were classified into three perspectives: understanding of different cultures, improving expertise in nursing, and awareness of the international community. Conclusions: Strategies that will enhance students’ understanding of diverse cultures are needed to increase their awareness of international exchanges.