BACKGROUND: Global nursing shortages and increasing cultural diversity in healthcare necessitate the development of culturally sensitive nurses. Intercultural learning and exchange programs have been shown to enhance nursing students' intercultural knowledge, cultural awareness, and sensitivity. However, non-technical skills such as communication, leadership, and teamwork are less emphasized in existing programs, despite their importance in facilitating adaptation to clinical contexts and ensuring patient safety across different ethnic groups.

OBJECTIVE: This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of a Collaborative Learning in a Student-led Global Classroom (CLSGC) program that employs video-based learning and student-led debriefings to enhance non-technical skills, and to explore the experiences of undergraduate nursing student participants from three different regions.

METHODS: Seventy-eight nursing students from the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Malmo University, and La Trobe University participated in the program. The program included three webinars on teamwork, communication skills, and leadership, facilitated through student-led discussions and video simulations. Data were collected using the Team Strategies and Tools to Enhance Performance and Patient Safety Teamwork Attitudes Questionnaire, and qualitative methods including focus groups and reflective journals. A paired t-test and manifest content analysis were used to analyze the quantitative and qualitative data, respectively.

RESULTS: The quantitative results indicated significant improvements in the students' attitudes towards teamwork, communication, and leadership. The qualitative data shed light on the students' learning experiences, highlighting the value of cultural exchanges in exploring the importance of non-technical skills in practice, and the effectiveness of the program structure.

CONCLUSIONS: The CLSGC program effectively improved nursing students' non-technical skills and enriched their clinical practice. Integrating simulation-based learning and student-led debriefing sessions to enhance nursing students' knowledge and attitudes towards teamwork, communication, and leadership is recommended in nursing education. Continuous exposure to simulation should be part of nursing education to reinforce the significance of non-technical skills in practice.

Background: Phenomenological empathy and sense of coherence are two researched communication approaches used to improve therapeutic connections with patients in a variety of nurse related settings. The aim of this study is to evaluate students' feedback concerning how this event has enabled that understanding, development and refinement of skill-sets in PE and SoC when managing the acutely ill during simulation. Methods: 114 third year bachelor degree-nursing students were given the opportunity to complete an evaluation, developed for the specific purpose of this study. The evaluation contained six closed questions on a four point Likert-scale and three open questions, handed out upon completion of the standardised patient simulation of the acutely ill. Comments written in response to the open questions were analysed using manifest content analysis and closed questions using SPSS to produce descriptive frequencies. Results: 100 students completed the evaluation. Student nurses', regardless of previous experience or age, indicated the need for more education and practice in phenomenological empathy and sense of coherence to enhance their ability to build therapeutic connections with the acutely ill. Conclusions: Teaching phenomenological empathy and sense of coherence, as an integral part of standardised patient simulation is necessary to motivate student nurses ability to build therapeutic relationships with the acutely ill to enhance person centred care.