Enhancing nursing education for Indigenous students: Indigenous nursing students' insights and strategies

Abstract

BackgroundIndigenous nursing students contended with far-reaching challenges during the pandemic that significantly altered their experiences of nursing education. These experiences are poorly understood by nursing educators and strategies for Indigenous nursing student success rarely involve the insights of current Indigenous nursing students. AimThe aim of this article is to offer Indigenous-student derived recommendations regarding strategies for improving their experiences and success within nursing education during the pandemic and beyond. Design and methodsThis qualitative study employed an Indigenous methodology including land-based learning, ceremony, and sharing circles. Participants and settingIndigenous nursing students (n = 17) from a Western Canadian school of nursing participated in one of three sharing circles. ResultsIndigenous nursing students recommended institutional and program adaptations along with increases to cultural safety for enhancing their experience in nursing education. Institutional and program strategies included: decreasing course loads and class sizes; an Indigenous-specific cohort; a transition program after course failure; increasing academic supports such as additional clinical skills and academic writing practice. Recommendations for increasing cultural safety included: mandatory and recurrent cultural safety training for faculty, staff and students; differential learning and evaluation strategies; and increased inclusion of Indigenous ceremonies and practices. ConclusionThe findings of this study provide insights that can help guide curriculum development, pedagogical approaches, and policy development to improve nursing education for Indigenous students.