Revista de enfermería y cuidados

Experiences of Study Exchange Program in Australia from Asian Nursing Students` Perspectives

Abstract

Rei-Mei Hong and Lisa Hee

Exchange programs are an important educational activity for student nurses. Each year, eight student nurses from a Taiwan University are chosen to go to Brisbane, Australia for one month as part of an exchange program. At the nursing exchange program, they not only attended labs, tutorials, simulations, lectures, and workshops, but also visited hospitals and aged care facilities. An explorative and descriptive approach was used to examine the experiences of eight student nurses. Four categories emerged from the analysis: 1) “Help from friendly environment,” 2) “having eye-opening experiences,” 3) “feeling home sick,” and 4) “feeling culture shock.” Although several studies have found similar findings, no recent studies discussing the experiences of Asian students in exchange programs in Western countries were found. The findings provide potential insight into the Asian students’ experiences of exchange programs in Western countries. Nurse educators can consider these perspectives in planning educational exchange program in the future and inform future potential participants what to expect during the program.