Marekovic Anna-Maria Sarstrand, Hadziabdic Emina, Juuso Päivi, Heikkilä Kristiina
Department of Social Studies, Faculty of Social Sciences, Linnaeus University, Växjö, SE-351 95, Sweden.
Department of Health and Caring Sciences, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, Linnaeus University, Växjö, SE-351 95, Sweden.
BMC Nurs. 2025 Jun 27;24(1):672. doi: 10.1186/s12912-025-03414-0.
To aid in the recertification and integration process of internationally educated nurses (IENs), many countries have organized bridging programs to provide support and education and align their knowledge and competence with local requirements. The importance and relevance of these programs for IENs are highlighted in related research. However, the experiences of university teachers, supervisors in clinical placement, and administrators organizing these programs are scarcely explored. The aim of this article is to explore the experiences of professional educators engaged in bridging programs at two universities in Sweden.
A descriptive qualitative approach was employed. The data were collected between December 2021 and March 2023 through semi-structured interviews with 15 educators involved in bridging programs at two universities in Sweden. The participants included university teachers, administrators, and supervisors in clinical placement. The data were analyzed using thematic analysis.
The thematic analysis identified two main themes: (1) teaching a heterogeneous group of students and (2) organizational constraints of bridging programs. In relation to the first main theme, three subthemes were identified: educational and professional heterogeneity of IENs, varying language competencies of IENs and finding new approaches to teaching IENs. For the second main theme, three sub-themes were identified: compressed time in bridging programs, lack of resources for a time-consuming education and bridging programs as competition for resources.
This study contributes to the understanding of the challenges associated with the recertification process of IENs through bridging programs from the perspective of educators. The findings highlight that educating a heterogeneous group of students, such as internationally educated nurses with differences in professional experience, knowledge and local language competencies, is time-consuming. Educators need to learn about the level of knowledge of the student group and individual learning needs and adapt the instructions accordingly, which is constrained by the organization of the programs. The findings also indicate that educators can find ways to mitigate these challenges and adapt their instructions to meet the needs of students. Therefore, it is important to allocate time and resources to running bridging programs and to support the cooperation and exchange of information between universities and clinics. We also suggest the need to increase the competency level of educators on how to support learning through a second language and enhancing collaboration with language instructors to ensure high-quality education for IENs.
为帮助国际教育护士（IENs）重新获得认证并融入工作，许多国家组织了衔接课程，以提供支持和教育，并使他们的知识和能力符合当地要求。相关研究强调了这些课程对国际教育护士的重要性和相关性。然而，大学教师、临床实习督导员以及组织这些课程的管理人员的经验却鲜有探讨。本文旨在探究瑞典两所大学参与衔接课程的专业教育工作者的经验。
采用描述性定性研究方法。2021年12月至2023年3月期间，通过对瑞典两所大学参与衔接课程的15名教育工作者进行半结构化访谈收集数据。参与者包括大学教师、管理人员和临床实习督导员。采用主题分析法对数据进行分析。
主题分析确定了两个主要主题：（1）教授异质学生群体；（2）衔接课程的组织限制。关于第一个主要主题，确定了三个子主题：国际教育护士的教育和专业异质性、国际教育护士不同的语言能力以及寻找教授国际教育护士的新方法。对于第二个主要主题，确定了三个子主题：衔接课程时间紧凑、缺乏开展耗时教育所需的资源以及衔接课程对资源的竞争。
本研究有助于从教育工作者的角度理解通过衔接课程对国际教育护士重新认证过程中面临的挑战。研究结果表明，教授异质学生群体，如具有不同专业经验、知识和当地语言能力的国际教育护士，是一项耗时的工作。教育工作者需要了解学生群体的知识水平和个体学习需求，并相应地调整教学指导，但这受到课程组织的限制。研究结果还表明，教育工作者可以找到应对这些挑战的方法，并调整教学指导以满足学生的需求。因此，为衔接课程分配时间和资源，支持大学与诊所之间的合作与信息交流非常重要。我们还建议有必要提高教育工作者在如何通过第二语言支持学习方面的能力水平，并加强与语言教师的合作，以确保为国际教育护士提供高质量教育。
