Experiences of overseas nurse educators teaching in New Zealand

Background: Globalisation and a shortage of registered nurses in New Zealand have caused an increase in the number of overseas qualified registered nurses and nurse educators migrating to New Zealand. This reflects the overall international context. If overseas qualified nurse educators are to work optimally, providing the maximum benefit for students, their experiences need to be examined in order to identify potential issues and provide support.

Objectives: To investigate the experiences of overseas qualified nurse educators teaching in New Zealand nursing schools and relate this to the international context.

Design: A qualitative study using van Manen's hermeneutic approach to phenomenology. Methods: The lived experiences of 17 overseas qualified nurse educators were explored through in-depth, semi -structured individual interviews.

Results: The study revealed that overseas qualified nurse educators initially experienced a sense of non-belonging in New Zealand, while their separation from their homeland and migration to a new country resulted in a sense of disorientation. Integration was the preferred method of adaptation to New Zealand among the study participants. However, they wanted to choose which aspects of the new culture they would adopt and to what extent they would adapt.

Conclusion: The initial phase of adaptation was a difficult process for the majority of participants, however, it was found that the adaptation process was easier for the participants who were actively engaging in New Zealand society. Understanding and improving the experiences of overseas qualified nurse educators will enable nursing students to receive maximum educational benefits wherever they train in the world.