Cathy Dickson
Title: Observing, managing and focusing: Learning to be a local nurse for the international student
Biography
Biography: Cathy Dickson
Abstract
International students comprise some if not the majority of undergraduate nursing cohorts in countries such as Australia, The United States of America and the United Kingdom. As nursing is a socially constructed enterprise, there are notable variations in the professional status and role of the registered nurse between countries. International students who come to study nursing bring with them culturally derived conceptions about the profession of nursing and its practice, often creating a dissonance between expected and actual roles. This dissonance needs to be negotiated by the student themselves so that they develop into competent practitioners, as deemed by local registration standards. This presentation will focus on the findings of an interpretive descriptive study that revealed the complex process undertaken by the participants whilst on clinical placement to become an Australian nurse. As motivated and active players in their own learning journey, waiting and watching and seeking and finding were some of the strategies used in the process of learning to nurse in the clinical environment. This process will be of global interest to all sectors of nurse education from policy development to clinical practice.