Overcoming strangeness and communication barriers: a phenomenological study of becoming a foreign nurse

To access publisher full text version of this article. Please click on the hyperlink in Additional Links field BACKGROUND: This paper presents a study that explored the lived experience of foreign nurses working at hospitals in Iceland. AIM: The aim was to generate an understanding of this experienc...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International Nursing Review
Main Author: Magnusdottir, H
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Blackwell Publishing 2005
Subjects:
Foreign Professional Personnel
Adaptation
Psychological
Attitude of Health Personnel
Acculturation
Nursing Staff
Hospital
Burnout
Professional
Communication Barriers
Friends
Health Facility Environment
Interprofessional Relations
Nursing Methodology Research
Organizational Culture
Self Concept
Workplace
Social Support
Social Isolation
Social Distance
Semantics
Questionnaires
Adult
Female
Middle Aged
Humans
Iceland
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/2336/3030
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1466-7657.2005.00421.x
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Summary:To access publisher full text version of this article. Please click on the hyperlink in Additional Links field BACKGROUND: This paper presents a study that explored the lived experience of foreign nurses working at hospitals in Iceland. AIM: The aim was to generate an understanding of this experience both for local and international purposes. METHOD: The methodology that guided the study was the Vancouver school of doing phenomenology. Sampling was purposeful and consisted of 11 registered nurse from seven countries. The data were collected in dialogues; the analyses were thematic. FINDINGS: The findings are presented in five main themes that describe the essence of the experience with the overall theme of 'Growing through experiencing strangeness and communication barriers'. The first theme portrays how the nurses met and tackled the multiple initial challenges. One of the challenges, described in the second theme, was becoming outsiders and needing to be let in. The third theme explores the language barrier the nurses encountered and the fourth theme the different work culture. The fifth then illuminates how the nurses finally overcame these challenges and won through. CONCLUSION: The findings and their international context suggest the importance of language for personal and professional well-being and how language and culture are inseparable entities.

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