Nursing Students’ Experiences of Professional Perceptions in A Multicultural Context: A Qualitative Study

Abstract

Background: Nursing's professional perception refers to beliefs about nurses and the nursing profession, encompassing traditional, societal, and professional impressions. Objective: This study was designed to determine nursing students’ experiences about transcultural nursing and professional perceptions in a multicultural context. Methods: The “Phenomenological (qualitative)” design grounded in Husserl’s philosophy, as operationalized through Giorgi’s analytical method was used in the study. This study is a qualitative study and data were collected from two state universities in different countries. Results: Sixteen nursing intern students participated in the study. When the research data were analyzed, six main themes were identified: desire to help, satisfaction and motivation, difficulties in cultural care, economic and social problems, communication factors and career. Conclusion: Nursing students stated that they chose their profession with the desire to help people, but emphasized that professional satisfaction and motivation were important, while economic and social problems were important sources of concern. Especially in a country, it has been determined that the increasing migration in recent years has increased cultural differences therefore communication difficulties have been experienced. Students' participation in international exchange programs during their education will increase their knowledge and self-confidence.