A Qualitative Study of Baccalaureate Nursing Students Following an Eight-day International Cultural Experience in Tanzania: Cultural Humility as an Outcome

Abstract

Transcultural and intercultural competence through study abroad is widely recognized as a preferred teaching approach for the development of globally competent health care practitioners because of the noteworthy effects that these experiential opportunities have on students. Sparse research has been conducted to determine if controversial short-term study abroad trips of less than two weeks are achieving positive outcomes. The purpose of this interpretative qualitative study was to describe the nature and meanings of a short-term international cultural experience for U.S. nursing students that travelled to Tanzania over an 8-day period. The results indicated that the participants experienced culture shock, but they also gained in self-awareness, cultural empathy, and leadership skills. The data also revealed that for many participants, this international experience led to the development of cultural humility. Langer's theory of Mindfulness, and Campinha-Bacote's Process of Cultural Competence provided the theoretical framework for this study. This paper also discusses pedagogical approaches for short-term programs and outcomes.

Coping: “This Is More Than a Trip—It Is a Journey”

“…In their journal entries, students’ responses illustrated that they were seeking to find meaning in their cross-cultural experience. Each individual perceived what was occurring through the lens of their prior interactions with individuals from other cultures (Ferranto, 2013, p. 64). As this cross-cultural learning experience was of short duration, students defaulted to their habitual coping responses while in Ghana.…”

“…Bochner (2003) also posited that these encounters have beneficial aspects in his ABC response model to cultural contact. Of note, authors used different terminology to describe the global experience: international sojourn (Brown & Holloway, 2008), international cultural experience (Ferranto, 2013), short-term international program (Heuer & Bengiamin, 2001), service-learning (Kohlbry, 2016), immersion (Maltby & Abrams, 2009), and study abroad (Ruddock & Turner, 2007). Kohlbry (2016) stressed that the main limitation in creating these learning opportunities was the inability “to determine the optimal length of time for an immersion experience” (p. 308).…”

“…Returning to one’s own culture can also result in shock. Ferranto (2013) discussed reentry shock which can include a sense of loss, personal growth/change, and depression or anger. Gaw (2000) noted that reverse culture shock could result in academic problems, cultural identity conflict, social withdrawal, depression, anxiety, interpersonal difficulties, alienation, disorientation, stress, value confusion, anger, hostility, compulsive fears, helplessness, disenchantment, and discrimination.…”

Bowing down and standing up: Towards a pedagogy of cultural humility

“…The largest application of this concept to any sort of global learning comes from examinations of study abroad programmes within the scholarly literature of healthcare and social work. Selected qualitative studies in nursing, for example, have identified cultural humility as desired programme outcomes, especially in the context of study abroad and community-engaged research (Belliveau, 2019;Ferranto, 2015). Hartman et al (2018) introduced the concept of cultural humility to the broader scholarly field of global learning in a text examining the theory and practice of global learning.…”

The Experiences of West Virginians Participating in Extension-Sponsored Educational Programming in Ireland: A Narrative Analysis

“…Interpretivism takes into consideration the individual and their personal context of where the experience happens and as it occurs in a specific moment in time. This type of viewpoint emphasizes the subjectivity of people's behaviors and realizes that people's interpretations are based on everyday experiences that have meaning for them (Ferranto, 2013). Thus, as the individual is engaging in the world, they are interpreting experience from their own standpoint, and constructing meaning of their world that is based upon a blending of their perceptions and knowledge gained.…”