Canadian undergraduate nursing programs have incorporated global health concepts and experiences in their curricula as these are elements of Registered Nurses’ entry-level practice competencies. With their knowledge of global health concepts, nursing students are aware of local, national, and international populations’ health needs. While there are multiple ways of promoting such knowledge, many nursing programs include optional clinical experiences abroad. This dissertation explored nursing students’ reentry process following immersive global health clinical experiences in resource-limited international settings. Charmaz’s Constructivist Grounded Theory approach was used and led to the development of a substantive theory named Reentry Process Theory. Data was gathered through face-to-face in-depth interviews with 20 participants recruited for the study, including Level 4 nursing students, nursing alumni, and faculty from a School of Nursing in Ontario. Data analysis identified 4 conceptual categories that explain processes embedded in participants’ reentry experiences: adjusting to being back, seeking understanding, making meaningful connections, and discovering a new self. Findings revealed the importance of understanding experiences and factors that impact the lives of nursing students who have lived and studied in resource-limited international settings not only in their role as students but also as individuals and soon to become professional nurses. Recommendations are made for education, research, policy and for future undergraduate students pursuing a global health clinical experience. / Dissertation / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / Many Canadian undergraduate nursing programs include optional clinical experiences abroad as a way of fostering nursing students’ knowledge of global health concepts as well as local, national, and international populations’ health needs. This dissertation investigated factors that impact nursing students’ reentry process following immersive clinical experiences in resource-limited international settings. The study adopted Kathy Charmaz’s constructivist approach to Grounded Theory and constructed a Reentry Process Theory that addresses nursing students’ personal and professional development. Data was gathered through face-to-face in-depth interviews with 20 participants, including Level 4 nursing students, nursing alumni, and faculty from a School of Nursing in Ontario. Data analysis identified 4 conceptual categories that underpin participants’ reentry experiences: adjusting to being back, seeking understanding, making meaningful connections, and discovering a new self. Recommendations are made for education, research, policy and for future undergraduate nursing students involved in immersive clinical experiences abroad.

As opposed to culture shock, where one experience difficulties going to a new country andculture, reverse culture shock is the difficulties one experiences when returning home.Reverse culture shock describes the phenomenon of the disorientation and negative feelingsoften experienced when an individual becomes a returning sojourner. This thesis examinesreverse culture shock in the reentry process and its effect on the returning student sojournersat Malmö University. Researching reverse culture shock is important as it is an area that isoften neglected in the context of student mobility, even though the majority of returningstudent sojourners experience it. There is a gap in the research around reverse culture shockwhere phenomenological qualitative research has been deprioritized for a much more tangibleapproach of quantitative research. The returning student sojourner’s stories are important ifone seeks to gain a deeper understanding of reverse culture shock and the reentry process. Thepurpose of this research is to encourage a deeper discussion about reverse culture shock atMalmö University and its impact on student sojourners returning from studying abroad. Thisresearch seeks to answer the question: to what extent are returning student sojourners atMalmö University affected by reverse culture shock? And what can the university do to assistthe reentry process? By utilizing qualitative research methods, three themes were identifiedwhich highlight aspects of the returning student sojourners experiences as they came homefrom their student mobility programs: social difficulties, a dream, and what the university cando to assist the reentry process. In conclusion, the student sojourners returned with a feelingof loneliness and isolation, an experience that felt like a dream, and with a wish for moresupport from their home institution.