Investigation of the Experience of Immigrant Nurses in a Diverse Cultural Setting

Abstract

BackgroundWork-related stress (WRS) is one of the most common stressors in healthcare workplace settings.PurposeThis research study was designed to examine and discuss perceived WRS, job performance, social support, and the desire of immigrant nurses to work in a multicultural workplace.MethodsA case research mixed-methodology approach, a quantitative survey, and semistructured qualitative interviews were used in this research study. Three hundred twenty-one respondents were invited, of which 246 (76.6%) returned valid questionnaires. A purposeful sampling technique was used in the qualitative portion of the study. A semistructured interviewing system was used on 20 nurses.Results“Workload” was the most common traumatic occurrence, whereas “treatment” and “death and dying” were the least common traumatic occurrences. Similarly, the mean of the social support scale, as defined using the McCain and Marklin Social Integration Scale, was moderate to high, suggesting that most of the participants received strong social support from their colleagues. The qualitative research found that the participants faced high pressures related to work and have struggled to acquire cultural skills, while having difficulties meeting their patients' cultural and spiritual needs and sustaining high-quality nursing care.ConclusionsThe findings of this study support that immigrant nurses working in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia are stressed. A significant difference between the qualitative and quantitative results was found. The findings further contribute to our understanding of WRS, social support, job performance, and intention to stay among immigrant nurses in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Culture Shock in Nursing: A Concept Analysis

“…Psychological and Emotional effect on IENs -As IENs transition to their new surroundings, cultural norms, beliefs, and practices in the healthcare context, culture shock can have a significant, acute, and even chronic emotional impact. It can also cause feelings of disorientation and confusion [1,3,4,7,10,14,18,19,21,22,23,24,25,26,27]. 2.…”

“…The lines of communication between IENs and their patients, coworkers, and other healthcare team members may be significantly impacted by this. [4,7,10,14,18,19,20,21,23,24,25,26,27,28,29,30,31, 32] 3. The availability of resources and support to the IENs-IENs must immerse themselves in the new healthcare system in order to find their new professional identity, resolve conflicts, and be able to acculturate.…”

“…By doing this, IENs will learn to forge professional relationships with their superiors and colleagues. As IENS adjust and adapt to their new environment, differences in healthcare systems will come into play [3,4,7,10,14,18,19,20,21,23,24,28,30,31,32,33,25,26]. 4.…”

“…It was discovered that participants encountered significant work-related pressures and experienced challenges in acquiring cultural skills. They also faced difficulties in addressing the cultural and spiritual needs of their patients while maintaining highquality nursing care [19]. Facilitating mutual learning within multicultural teams and fostering positive interactions among diverse groups play crucial roles in advancing intercultural understanding.…”

First Contact With Transcultural Care: A Phenomenological Study of Practical Turkish Nursing Students’ Experiences in a Migrant Health Center

“…Studies conducted with students come to the forefront in structuring the education curriculum. However, although there are studies in the literature examining nurses’ care experiences for individuals from different cultures (Hussam & Alnjadat, 2022; Sevinç, 2018), it was found that studies conducted with nursing students were primarily investigated using the quantitative method in the fields of cultural competence and effectiveness (Tosun, 2021; Üzar-Özçetin et al, 2020). No study has examined students’ experiences providing long-term nursing care to immigrants.…”