Nursing Students’ Intercultural Learning Through Joint Classes with International Students and the Resultant Changes in those Nursing Students

Abstract

Background & Aims: Nursing education in Japan requires learning about cultural competence. This study aimed to clarify the intercultural learning and changes nursing students experienced from participating in joint classes with international students.

Methods: The joint lessons were conducted in four stages, and reports from all stages were analyzed. Data were analyzed qualitatively and inductively. Learnings about different cultures were extracted and categorized.

Results: Across all learning stages, 44 subcategories and 21 categories of intercultural learning were extracted. Through repeated contact, the nursing students gained concrete knowledge and became aware of the differences between themselves and the international students. As the study progressed, the nursing students gained more concrete knowledge, increasing the level of abstraction and grasping the overall structure of intercultural understanding.

Conclusions: As the nursing students had more intercultural contact, their intercultural learning changed in the following order: “prediction,” “notice,” “comparison and evaluation,” and “understanding at a more abstract level.” Exposure to different cultures is an effective way to improve the cultural competence of nursing students.