Article Sidebar
Published:
Aug 13, 2024Keywords:
Article Details
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
During the submission, authors will be requested to complete a ‘Copyright Transfer form' to assign to the University of Rwanda the copyright of the manuscript and any tables, illustrations or other material submitted for publication as part of the manuscript (the "Article") in all forms and media (whether now known or later developed), throughout the world, in all languages, for the full term of copyright, effective when the article is accepted for publication. The Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial-NoDerivs (CC-BY-NC-ND) license shall be applied.
Main Article Content
International Internship Collaborations: Rwandan Nephrology Graduate Nurses Describe Their Experiences Abroad
Abstract
Background
International internships provide many benefits to graduate nurses, including bridging the gap between theory and practice. Yet, these internships in culturally diverse regions also present various challenges.
Objective
This study explored the experiences gained by nephrology graduate master’s nurses from the University of Rwanda who attended clinical training in more advanced settings in Asia and Africa.
Methods
A qualitative design and semi-structured interview guide was employed to solicit individual opinions of nine nephrology graduate nurses who had attended international internships in India and Kenya. Content analysis was used to analyse and interpret the meaning of the textual data.
Results
Four themes emerged from the analysis, namely Inter-professional collegiality,
Cross-cultural adaptation, Challenges of the internships, and becoming a Change
agent upon return to work in Rwanda.
Conclusion
Participants reported many positive learning experiences and some challenges. These
challenges could be rectified in future internships abroad. The training bridged the
theory-practice gap and increased the graduate nurses’ experiences as global citizens.
Rwanda J Med Health Sci 2024;7(2):217-228
