About

Nursing as a profession aims to provide excellent care. In multicultural evolving societies patients are entitled to culturally competent care as it is in the case of the EU. Nurses must be prepared to recognize patients’ needs that derive from culture and to develop skills that will facilitate their achievement. Transcultural nursing (TN) is an emerging area of both study and practice focusing on human care to provide culturally competent care to all patients and families with maximum respect to cultural values, beliefs and different lifestyles. Within the TN approach, each the individual is considered within their environment and culture which are intrinsic. Nurses should not neglect these features while providing care. Cultural values and beliefs are crucial elements in efficiently and effectively fulfilling the needs of patients from a nursing holistic approach. In nursing education, the transcultural nursing approach is unusual in countries such as Turkey. We have identified that often the transcultural aspects explored in baccalaureate degree nursing programs curricula (both theoretical and practical contents) appear largely scarce. Consequently, nursing graduates underline knowledge gaps on the TN matter regarding information and precise skills much needed in their actual practice. These difficulties may derive from insufficient and obsolete nursing syllabus. This project focuses on nursing academic experts who work actively on transcultural care and transcultural nursing and students following a bachelor’s degree in nursing. This transnational partnership will work on developing the most up-to-date and evidence-based curricula on transcultural nursing skills as a result of this global collaboration.

Students will be able to observe, compare and implement the methods favoured by partner countries. Subsequently they will be able to acquire cultural knowledge and skills in the TN context and develop their own abilities. The BENEFITS project is carried out in a transnational manner in order to close an existing gap. We will create a core curriculum and supporting publications on this innovative approach to create awareness, support learning and ultimately have a positive impact in each of the countries’ healthcare evolving practices. All project partners will benefit from within this project, but our actual aim is to share this knowledge on a global basis which adds to the existing body of knowledge but that shows a concrete example on how to embed the transcultural care approach in the nursing curriculum within various settings. The partners will meet six times in total and work on a collaborative manner on the project. In the first phase, faculty members in Hasan Kalyoncu University (HKU) (coordinator) and the partnership will determine the competency level of our nursing students on TN and potential gaps. The first project management meeting (kick-off meeting) will take place in HKU, Gaziantep, Turkey. In the second and third phases, our partnership will examine nursing education curricula on transcultural nursing and best practices in the Czech Republic and Spanish contexts. In the third phase, our collaborative network will implement a workshop on transcultural nursing education and identify practical training opportunities in medical care facilities in Turkey (Gaziantep and GPDH). After these three intensive examinations, final drafting of our TN curricula will be developed.

The fifth phase, of the BENEFITS project intends to implement a collaborative intensive training program on transcultural nursing (one week). This course will be conducted in Belgium where students from all partner institutions will participate. Faculty members from our partnership will also participate in this training program as instructors. The program will be evaluated accordingly, and after this will be implemented accordingly. In the sixth phase, careful assessment of the results of our implemented TN program will discussed and held in Giresun with the participation of all partners. In summary, this project will create an evidence based global curricula on the topic of Transcultural Nursing Education. This change in the nursing education curriculum will enable students to learn these methods during their studies and to incorporate knowledge and specific skills into their global practice. Our partners will recommend the implementation of specific changes in curriculum of nursing education in their home countries accordingly. Global stakeholders will be hence briefed on the achievements of the BENEFITS project and future recommendations will be made. Due to our evolving multicultural societies and the challenges that this encompasses, this project will be a good example for nursing education across Europe. We believe that not only students and future nurses will benefit from this program, but equally patients and societies by providing respectful and culture sensitive care to our multicultural society.