Strangers in strange lands: A meta-synthesis of lived experiences of immigrant Asian nurses working in Western countries

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

7-2007

Publication Title

Advances in Nursing Science

Volume

30

Issue

3

First page number:

246

Last page number:

265

Abstract

Nurses from Asian countries make up the majority of immigrant nurses globally. Although there are a limited number of studies on the lived experiences of Asian nurses working in Western countries, the development of nursing science will be impeded if the rich understanding gleaned from these studies is not synthesized. Using Noblit and Hare's (Meta-ethnography: Synthesizing Qualitative Studies. Newbury Park, Calif: Sage; 1988) procedures, a metasynthesis was conducted on 14 studies that met preset selection criteria. Four overarching themes emerged: (a) communication as a daunting challenge; (b) differences in nursing practice; (c) marginalization, discrimination, and exploitation; and (d) cultural differences. Based on the metasynthesis, a large narrative and expanded interpretation was constructed and implications for nursing knowledge development, clinical practice, and policy making are elaborated.

Keywords

Acculturation; Asians; Immigrants; Nurses; Foreign; Western countries

Disciplines

Nursing | Other Nursing

Language

English

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