Indigenous Nursing Students’ Readiness for Practice Perceptions

Introduction: Despite being well prepared by baccalaureate nursing institutions, senior students often express trepidation and a lack of confidence with respect to their upcoming nursing role. The literature has long explored readiness for practice struggles of new graduate nurses, however, no studies of which we are aware have addressed Indigenous senior nursing students’ perspectives on this topic. By understanding the readiness for practice perceptions of Indigenous nursing students and facilitating the successful transition from student to nurse, nursing education programs can honor the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s (2015) Calls to Action related to a) increasing the number of Indigenous professionals working in the health care field, and b) ensuring the retention of Indigenous healthcare providers in Indigenous communities. Purpose: The purpose of this research is to explore baccalaureate Indigenous nursing students’ perceptions of their readiness for practice. Procedures: A descriptive exploratory study was conducted with a convenience sample of 26 senior baccalaureate nursing students in the province of Saskatchewan, Canada using the Readiness for Practice Survey. Results: Readiness for practice perceptions of Indigenous nursing students in this study are similar when compared with nursing students from the extant literature. With regards to Indigenous students’ perceived clinical problem solving skills they believed they used evidence to make clinical decisions and they were confident in their ability to problem solve. They also felt confident identifying actual or potential safety risk to patients. Students were least comfortable knowing what to do for a dying patient. When considering student learning perspectives, students believed simulation activities assisted them in being prepared for clinical practice. The least effective learning strategy they perceived was reflective journal writing. The majority of participants were satisfied in choosing nursing as a career, however, they were less confident in their readiness for entering the nursing profession. Students were comfortable asking for help and communicating with patients and family members. Participants did not feel overwhelmed with ethical issues and believed they had opportunities to practice skills more than once. Participants specified the nursing skills they were most uncomfortable performing were electrocardiogram or telemetry monitoring and interpretation, responding to an emergency or code blue, and performing tracheostomy care and suctioning. Students indicated their level of comfort in caring for two, three, and four patients and students became less confident as the number of patients they cared for increased. When asked what could have been done to help students feel more prepared to enter the nursing profession, participants had several suggestions including additional anatomy, physiology, pharmacology, and medical surgical theory courses particularly in upper years of the program, increased clinical hours, opportunities to practice psychomotor skills, and opportunities for mentorship both within school and after graduation. Conclusion: The results of the study provide insight into Indigenous students’ readiness for practice experiences and provides knowledge on supports needed to assist graduates’ transitions into their nursing careers. Strategies to enhance Indigenous nurse readiness for practice can assist in creating a representative workforce and ultimately provide culturally safe, quality care for Indigenous individuals and communities.

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