title: Japanese nursing students' sense of belonging: A story of Uchi (insider) and Soto (outsider).
abstract: Clinical placement experiences are the cornerstone of nursing education and a body of literature indicates that belongingness is fundamental to students' learning when undertaking placements. However, little is known about Japanese nursing students' sense of belonging and how it is influenced by their cultural values. The aim of this paper is to profile a study that: measured the extent to which Japanese nursing students' experience a sense of belonging in clinical placements, and explored the factors that impact on and are consequences of that experience. A mixed methods design was used with quantitative data collected using the Belongingness Scale-Clinical Placement Experience and qualitative data collected using semi-structured interviews. Ninety-two third and fourth year students from a large regional university in Japan completed the questionnaire; of these six also participated in interviews. The results identified similarities and differences between this and other studies of belongingness. Supportive and welcoming clinical environments facilitated participants' belongingness and motivation to learn. However, the belongingness scores of this sample were lower than those in all other studies. This may be explained, in part, by the Japanese cultural values of "Uchi (insider) and Soto" (outsider), which pervaded the participants' placement experiences and led to feelings of exclusion and alienation.
authors: School of Nursing and Midwifery, Faculty of Health and Medicine, The University of Newcastle, Ourimbah, NSW 2258, Australia. Electronic address: kazumahonda@hotmail.com.
authors: Kazuma
authors: K
authors: Honda
authors: School of Nursing and Midwifery, Faculty of Health and Medicine, The University of Newcastle, Callaghan, NSW 2308, Australia. Electronic address: Tracy.Levett-Jones@newcastle.edu.au.
authors: Tracy
authors: T
authors: Levett-Jones
authors: Faculty of Health Sciences, Graduate School of Medicine, Yamaguchi University, 1-1-1 Minami-Kogushi, Ube, Yamaguchi 755-8505, Japan. Electronic address: teriston@yamaguchi-u.ac.jp.
authors: Teresa
authors: T
authors: Stone
authors: School of Nursing and Midwifery, Faculty of Health and Medicine, The University of Newcastle, Callaghan, NSW 2308, Australia. Electronic address: Jane.Maguire@newcastle.edu.au.
authors: Jane
authors: J
authors: Maguire
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D002983:Clinical Competence; D003466:Cultural Characteristics; D004508:Education, Nursing, Baccalaureate; D006801:Humans; D007400:Interprofessional Relations; D007564:Japan; D015402:Nursing Education Research; D011231:Preceptorship; D012933:Social Identification; D013338:Students, Nursing / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: Belongingness; Clinical placement; Culture; Japan; Mixed methods; Nursing student; Staff-student relationships