Kumsook Seo; Miyoung Kim

doi:10.4040/jkan.2016.46.2.238

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Original Article
Clinical Work Experience of Korean Immigrant Nurses in U.S. Hospitals: Kumsook Seo, Miyoung Kim; Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing 2016;46(2):238-248.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.4040/jkan.2016.46.2.238
Published online: April 29, 2016

¹Department of Nursing, Kaya University, Gimhae, Korea.

²College of Nursing, Ewha Womans University, Seoul, Korea.

Address reprint requests to: Kim, Miyoung. College of Nursing, Ewha Womans University, 52 Ewhayeodae-gil, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul 03760, Korea. Tel: +82-2-3277-6694, Fax: +82-2-3277-2850, mykim0808@ewha.ac.kr

• Received: September 21, 2015 • Revised: October 7, 2015 • Accepted: November 27, 2015

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution NoDerivs License. (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/) If the original work is properly cited and retained without any modification or reproduction, it can be used and re-distributed in any format and medium.

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Abstract
NOTES
REFERENCES

Abstract

Purpose
The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the meaning of the experience of Korean immigrant nurses working in US hospitals.
Methods
Purposive sampling yielded 15 Korean immigrant nurses who had more than one year of clinical experience in US hospitals. Data were collected from March to August 2012 through in-depth interviews and thematic analysis was conducted using van Manen's hermeneutic phenomenological approach.
Results
The findings were classified into eight themes: 'struggling from staff at workplace being territorial to outsiders', 'feeling oppressed due to language barrier', 'accepting rational and horizontal relationships at work', 'staying alert in the environment where lawsuits are rife', 'feeling a sense of stability from the social system that values human dignity', 'maintaining self-confidence from prominent nursing practices and senior Korean nurses' professional reputation', 'performing essential comprehensive nursing care', 'promoting self-development to be equipped with professionalism.'
Conclusion
The findings indicate that the Korean immigrant nurses were able to excel in their workplace when their clinical experience at US hospitals was combined with the lived space in US politics and environment, lived time of patience, lived body to be alert, and lived others with multi cultural characteristics.
Keywords: Immigrants; Language barriers; Nurses; Qualitative research

This manuscript is condensed form of the first author's doctoral dissertation from Ewha Womans University.

The authors declared no conflict of interest.

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Table 1

The Essential Themes Identified from the Clinical Experience of Korean Immigrant Nurses in US Hospitals

Figure & Data

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