The Experiences of Clinical Placement Belonging Among Nursing Students with Racially and Ethnically Minoritized Identities: An Interpretive Descriptive Study
Abstract
Abstract
Background: Within clinical learning environments, a students’ sense of belonging has been identified as a pre-requisite for effective learning. Unfortunately, many aspects of nursing education act as barriers to belongingness among students with racially and ethnically minoritized identities. Although prejudice and discrimination represent barriers to belongingness, there is a paucity of literature exploring how racially and ethnically minoritized nursing students experience belonging during their clinical placements.
Aim: To explore how nursing students with racially and ethnically minoritized identities experience a sense of belonging during their clinical placements.
Research Design: The researcher followed an interpretive descriptive design informed by intersectional theoretical perspectives. Qualitative thematic analysis was used to analyze the interview data.
Findings: The study identified five themes: (1) Belonging as a Determinant to Student Learning, Retention and Patient Safety; (2) Minoritized Identities on Display: Discrimination Threatening Clinical Belonging; (3) How Power Dynamics at the Interpersonal and Institutional Levels Silence Students from Addressing Discrimination in the Clinical Environment; (4) “We Take it Seriously”: How the Representation of Minoritized Identities Influences Students’ Sense of Belonging; and (5) How Nursing Students’ Identities Intersected to Influence their Experiences of Belonging During Clinical Placements.
Conclusion: Findings highlight the importance of dismantling discriminatory structures within nursing education and practice and of investing in strategies to improve student belonging. Strategies to improve belonging need to be comprehensive by targeting the numerous factors that influence belonging experiences. Ultimately, improving racially and ethnically minoritized students’ clinical placement sense of belonging has positive implications for student learning, patient safety, and for retaining a diverse nursing workforce.