"Internationalization at Home" is a concept that allows students to participate in an international exchange in order to develop cultural awareness and skills without leaving their home universities. Cultural awareness and skills are defined as self-awareness of one’s own culture and awareness and acceptance to modify behavior taking into account cultural differences, including differences in communication. Further, the process of learning cultural awareness is conceptualized as transcultural self-efficacy (TSE). Following self-efficacy theory, resilient TSE perceptions are associated with being motivated and committed to learn and perform culturally sensitive behaviours benefiting nursing care. Hence, internationalization strategies have the potential to facilitate TSE by educating nurses to develop confidence for performing or learning transcultural nursing skills. Nevertheless, the impact on student learning and international collaboration from the use of information and communication technology-based seminars (webinars) has been scarcely researched.

Starting in 2015 to 2016, the first phase of the project was completed as a pilot study by research teams located at the Department of Care Science at Malmö University  and the School of Nursing at Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Phase two will commence 2017 with the addition of the School of Nursing and Midwifery, LaTrobe University (LaTrobeU), Bundoora, and the Department of Rural Nursing and Midwifery, La Trobe Rural Health School, La Trobe University, Bendigo, Victoria, Australia. The aim of part two of the study is to broaden understanding of our internationalization-at-home strategy for nursing students (undergraduate and postgraduate), and more specifically, to facilitate cultural awareness in nursing and healthcare research. The objectives focus on revealing knowledge of what factors impart cultural awareness and skills and how this occurs using information and communication technology (ICT) as a communication platform. We will employ a qualitatively-driven mixed method design.

Financed by: Faculty of Health and Society, Malmö University and Faculty of Health and Social Sciences, Hong Kong Polytechnic University