Internationally qualified nurse communication—A qualitative cross country study

Abstract

Aims and objectives To compare the communication and practice experiences of migrant nurses in geographically distant, culturally dissimilar countries in Eastern and Western contexts. Background Considerable research has focused on the experience of acculturation of migrant nurses into geographically diverse locations. However, there remains scant comparative research which considers the ways in which migrant nurses interpret their experience through making “sense” of events encountered in their practice. Design An exploratory qualitative study was conducted using face‐to‐face interviews with 36 migrant nurses currently practising in New Zealand and 20 migrant nurses practising in the United Arab Emirates. Methods The same question schedule was used to explore influences on communication and practice in both settings. Thematic analysis and sensemaking theory guided coding and analysis of data. COREQ guidelines informed the reporting of qualitative data. Results Qualitative analysis resulted in five representative themes, three illustrating similarities across diverse cultures and two that demonstrate the differences migrant nurses require to navigate across contrasting cultural environments successfully. Conclusion Cultural value‐based differences in both locales caused both systemic and interpersonal sensemaking challenges for migrant nurses that emphasise the importance of orientation and education programmes for internationally qualified nurses. However, cultural conflicts also exist within groups. Orientation programmes should address culturally patterned responses among different groups of internationally qualified nurses. Relevance to clinical practice Findings demonstrate a need for migrant nurses to be willing to embrace ambiguity in order to acculturate into a collaborative team culture in each of the geographical locations in this study. As registered nurses (RNs) also carry their cultural imprint, orientation interventions targeting the cultural variations of nurses in less standardised orientation programmes may be more beneficial in enhancing acculturation and in turn, staff retention.

I speak a little Arabic: Nursing communication in a cross‐cultural context

“…The authors used a qualitative inquiry tool developed in New Zealand to examine the prevalence and impact of critical incidents in healthcare settings employing a multicultural nursing workforce (see Brunton & Cook, 2018). Brunton et al (2019) reported that although there were differences in the results of studies across New Zealand and the UAE, issues with language barriers, and the subsequent impact on nurse to patient and nurse to nurse relationships, were clearly evident in both studies.…”

“…Cross‐cultural communication presents unique issues for the art of nursing and the development of true presence between nurses and patients (Brownie et al, 2017; Brunton et al, 2019). After an extensive literature review, Brooks et al (2018) identified four defining attributes of successful and sensitive cross‐cultural communication that led to successful relationships with patients and families.…”

Cultural diversity in health care teams: A systematic integrative review and research agenda

“…The 29 studies in which team processes are not the output investigate other types of cultural diversity outputs, namely, patient-related outcomes , for example, patient safety or quality of patient care (13 studies); team-related outcomes , for example, cultural competences within the team (four studies), team performance (five studies), team learning (three studies), and team climate (two studies); organizational outcomes , for example, cost efficiency (one study) and work climate (two studies); and individual outcomes , for example, understanding holistic care (one study; Schilgen et al, 2019), individual feelings of exclusion (one study; Brunton et al, 2019), discrimination (one study; Chamber & Alexis, 2004), minority team member isolation (one study; Dreachslin et al, 2000), and career advancement (one study; Chamber & Alexis, 2004).…”

Culturally and linguistically diverse registered nurses' experiences of integration into nursing workforce – A qualitative descriptive study

“…Although CALD nurses help the current workforce meet societal demands and healthcare, extensive evidence has shown that these nurses undergo various challenges while integrating into work life (Buttigieg et al, 2018). These challenges have been found to impact their confidence, social life, and work satisfaction (Brunton et al, 2019), as well as impede their smooth integration into the workforce (Zanjani et al, 2021). In previous studies, organizational integration has been defined as the process through which CALD nurses overcome intra-organizational challenges and socialize to an organization (Ramji and Etowa, 2018).…”