Why Do Nursing Students Want to Participate in Education Abroad Programs?

Purpose: The purpose of this study was determine nursing students’ motivations for participating in a clinical education abroad program.

Background: International clinical experiences are becoming more prevalent for nursing students. There is a high demand for global health clinical placements among nursing students. Such clinical experiences offer a unique chance for nursing students to develop cultural competence and acquire additional clinical skills in a diverse setting. Typically, nurse educators and nursing programs determine objectives and outcomes for students to achieve while studying abroad.  In addition, students often have their own motivating factors for choosing study abroad experiences. The objectives of students are not always taken into account when developing education abroad programs. Thus, the objectives of nursing students who want to participate in clinical education abroad programs may not match those of the nurse educators that develop such programs. A review of the nursing and related health care literature revealed very few studies that researched student motivations for participating in clinical education abroad programs. Therefore, this study was conducted to determine nursing student motivations for studying abroad.

Methods: An analysis was conducted of thirty student application essays to discover commonalities and differences in their stated reasons for wanting to participate in an international pediatric clinical rotation.  Students answered the question, “Why do you want to participate in this experience?” An interpretive descriptive approach was used to analyze the student essays. The student essays were read and reread to acquire a feel for them and to identify participant’s significant statements. Ongoing data analysis was done after reading each interview and a list of codes was generated and organized into themes.

Findings: Five themes were generated from the analysis of the student essays: prior study abroad experience, improved clinical skills, desire for cultural immersion, second language acquisition, and preparation for life after graduation. These five themes detailed student motivations for wanting to participate in a clinical education abroad programs.  

1) Prior Study Abroad Experience: Participation in previous education abroad experiences created a desire for further international experiences. “I was fortunate enough to spend two semesters abroad. I hope that this trip will be the first of many where I can travel to other countries in need and provide health care.”

2)Improved Clinical Skills: A desire improve their clinical skills and learn about other healthcare delivery systems prompted students to apply to participate for education abroad experiences.  “It is not uncommon to learn best practices from others, even in resource poor conditions, that may have utility here at home.”

3) Desire for cultural immersion: Students discussed wanting to experience another culture first hand. “I have never experiences true cultural immersion. It is my hope that my short time in Nicaragua will provide me with additional experience that will help me to develop into a more culturally sensitive nurse practitioner.”

4) Second language acquisition:  “I want to improve my Spanish speaking ability.”

5) Preparation for life after graduation: Students believed that an education abroad experience would be useful for their future careers. “The clinical experience in Nicaragua will also be good preparation for my future career in which I hope to work in Latino community health in the U.S.”

Conclusions: Nursing students have a variety of factors which motivated them to pursue education abroad clinical experiences. In order for these clinical experiences to be meaningful, student desires and learning objectives should be considered when planning education abroad programs. The findings from the current study can help nurse educators plan for sound education abroad experiences that incorporate student motivations.  A collaborative approach which includes the students’ desires is needed when developing international clinical education abroad experiences. This study will contribute to understanding factors that affect student involvement in nursing international clinical placements.