{"title":"Exploring Ethical, Cultural, and Transnational Competence Among International Healthcare Management Students: An Australian Perspective.","authors":"Matylda Howard, Kuan Liung Tan, Rasika Jayasekara","doi":"10.2147/JHL.S506361","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Introduction: </strong>Healthcare leaders face complex ethical challenges that can impact patient care and organizational integrity. For international healthcare management students pursuing leadership roles in Australia, these challenges are heightened by ethical, cultural, and transnational differences. This exploratory study examined the challenges faced by these students to establish foundational understanding of the competencies needed for effective ethical decision-making, cultural integration, and transnational readiness in diverse healthcare environments.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Using a composite theoretical framework incorporating Cultural Relativism, Ethical Climate Theory, Institutional Theory, and Transnationalism, a 35-item instrument was adapted from three validated sources. A cross-sectional survey of 35 international postgraduate health services management students collected quantitative and qualitative data. Quantitative data were summarized using descriptive statistics, while thematic analysis, informed by the Gioia methodology, was applied to qualitative responses.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Key ethical challenges identified included healthcare inequity, resource allocation, and patient safety. Effective leadership practices emphasized fostering supportive work environments and promoting diversity. Participants demonstrated strong cultural competence, particularly in cultural awareness and cross-cultural communication, but highlighted the need for enhanced preparation in ethical decision-making and navigating transnational healthcare systems.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>The findings underscore the importance of transnational training programs that integrate cultural orientation, healthcare-specific language support, and ethical decision-making simulations. The Ethical, Cultural, and Transnational framework developed in this study provides a practical guide for embedding these competencies into leadership curricula, equipping international students to navigate the complexities of globalized healthcare systems effectively.</p>","PeriodicalId":44346,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Healthcare Leadership","volume":"17 ","pages":"97-115"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4000,"publicationDate":"2025-03-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11910911/pdf/","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of Healthcare Leadership","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.2147/JHL.S506361","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"2025/1/1 0:00:00","PubModel":"eCollection","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"HEALTH POLICY & SERVICES","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Introduction: Healthcare leaders face complex ethical challenges that can impact patient care and organizational integrity. For international healthcare management students pursuing leadership roles in Australia, these challenges are heightened by ethical, cultural, and transnational differences. This exploratory study examined the challenges faced by these students to establish foundational understanding of the competencies needed for effective ethical decision-making, cultural integration, and transnational readiness in diverse healthcare environments.
Methods: Using a composite theoretical framework incorporating Cultural Relativism, Ethical Climate Theory, Institutional Theory, and Transnationalism, a 35-item instrument was adapted from three validated sources. A cross-sectional survey of 35 international postgraduate health services management students collected quantitative and qualitative data. Quantitative data were summarized using descriptive statistics, while thematic analysis, informed by the Gioia methodology, was applied to qualitative responses.
Results: Key ethical challenges identified included healthcare inequity, resource allocation, and patient safety. Effective leadership practices emphasized fostering supportive work environments and promoting diversity. Participants demonstrated strong cultural competence, particularly in cultural awareness and cross-cultural communication, but highlighted the need for enhanced preparation in ethical decision-making and navigating transnational healthcare systems.
Conclusion: The findings underscore the importance of transnational training programs that integrate cultural orientation, healthcare-specific language support, and ethical decision-making simulations. The Ethical, Cultural, and Transnational framework developed in this study provides a practical guide for embedding these competencies into leadership curricula, equipping international students to navigate the complexities of globalized healthcare systems effectively.
期刊介绍:
Efficient and successful modern healthcare depends on a growing group of professionals working together as an interdisciplinary team. However, many forces shape the delivery of healthcare; changes are being driven by the markets, transformations in concepts of health and wellbeing, technology and research and discovery. Dynamic leadership will guide these necessary transformations. The Journal of Healthcare Leadership is an international, peer-reviewed, open access journal focusing on leadership for the healthcare professions. The publication strives to amalgamate current and future healthcare professionals and managers by providing key insights into leadership progress and challenges to improve patient care. The journal aspires to inform key decision makers and those professionals with ambitions of leadership and management; it seeks to connect professionals who are engaged in similar endeavours and to provide wisdom from those working in other industries. Senior and trainee doctors, nurses and allied healthcare professionals, medical students, healthcare managers and allied leaders are invited to contribute to this publication