Coming out of the ashes we rise: Culturally and linguistically diverse international nursing students during the COVID-19 pandemic

Background and aim: Research on international students conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic has persistently highlighted the vulnerabilities and challenges that they experienced when staying in the host country to continue with their studies. The findings from such research can inevitably create a negative image of international students and their ability to respond to challenges during unprecedented times. Therefore, this paper took a different stance and reported on a qualitative study that explored culturally and linguistically diverse (CaLD) international nursing students who overcame the challenges brought about by the pandemic to continue with their studies in Australia. Method: A descriptive qualitative research design guided by the processes of constructivist grounded theory was selected to ascertain insights from participants’ experiences of studying abroad in Australia during the COVID-19 pandemic. Results: Three themes emerged from the collected data that described the participants’ lived experiences, and they were: 1) Viewing international education as the pursuit of a better life, 2) Focusing on personal growth, and 3) Coming out of the ashes we rise. Discussion: The findings highlight the importance of recognising the investments and sacrifices that CaLD international students and their families make in pursuit of international tertiary education. The findings also underscore the importance of acknowledging the qualities that CaLD international students have to achieve self-growth and ultimately self-efficacy as they stay in the host country during a pandemic. Conclusion: Future research should focus on identifying strategies that are useful for CaLD international nursing students to experience personal growth and ultimately self-efficacy and continue with their studies in the host country during times of uncertainty such as a pandemic.

Details

Title: Coming out of the ashes we rise: Culturally and linguistically diverse international nursing students during the COVID-19 pandemic
Authors/Creators: Eric Lim - Murdoch University, School of Nursing
Publication Details: medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences
Publisher: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Identifiers: 991005775632907891
Copyright: The copyright holder for this preprint is the author/funder, who has granted medRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity.
Murdoch Affiliation: School of Nursing
Language: English
Resource Type: Preprint

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