Abstract
ObjectivesThis study aimed to qualitatively analyze the experiences and perceptions of students at a nursing college in Japan who studied abroad in Asia and North America, thereby identifying the full range of benefits of study abroad programs for Japanese nursing students. MethodsWe conducted a qualitative analysis of the reflection papers and free-response questionnaire items completed by 50 Japanese undergraduate nursing students who participated in 9 study abroad programs in Asia and North America. Content analysis of the data proceeded from typological and deductive to data-driven and inductive, recursively and collaboratively. ResultsThe results reveal perceived benefits in the areas of English language proficiency and motivation; knowledge of nursing practices, healthcare systems, and global health; cultural awareness and sensitivity; and various types of identity development (second-language motivation and identity, national/ethnic identity, professional identity, identity as a global citizen, and personal growth). It was also shown that students’ perceptions of what they learned or gained varied according to the specific characteristics of each study abroad program. ConclusionsStudy abroad experiences are often critical turning points that enhance nursing students’ identity formation in the context of multiple and overlapping communities of practice. They also enhance core elements of the educational mission of a nursing college, particularly relating to liberal arts and internationalization. These findings can inform the development of assessment tools to be used in conjunction with study abroad programs at nursing colleges.
Highlights
The resurgence of isolationism, jingoism, and anti-immigration sentiment notwithstanding, globalization is here to stay
The organization of our findings proceeds from ability acquisition through knowledge acquisition and identity development
The questionnaires directed participants to address specific topics, such as English improvement, making it more likely that those participants would comment on those issues. These data and findings reveal that studying abroad yields a wide array of benefits and plays an essential role in nursing education
Summary
The resurgence of isolationism, jingoism, and anti-immigration sentiment notwithstanding, globalization is here to stay. The implication for higher education is a heightened recognition of the need for multilingual proficiency, cross-cultural awareness and sensitivity, and global networking and information sharing. A 2012 global independent commission found that a redesign of professional health education is needed “in view of the opportunities for mutual learning and joint solutions offered by global interdependence due to acceleration of flows of knowledge, technologies, and financing across borders”, and that “active. Nursing students who study abroad reap benefits far beyond intercultural communication and sensitivity. Most of the existing research on SA focuses on students from North America or Europe studying abroad in Europe.[6,7] Non-Western perspectives are largely non-existent in the literature, in the context of nursing education
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