Preceptors' experiences of supervising internationally educated nurses attending a bridging program: An interview study.

BACKGROUND: Internationally educated nurses attending a bridging program must demonstrate clinical competence and meet requirements to apply for a nursing license in Sweden. OBJECTIVES: To describe preceptors' experiences of supervising internationally educated nurses undergoing clinical practice education during a bridging program. DESIGN: A qualitative descriptive study. SETTINGS: Two universities offering the 1-year bridging program for nurses with a nursing degree from outside European Union/European Economic Area and Switzerland. PARTICIPANTS: Fifteen preceptors, all registered nurses, who supervised internationally educated nurses were included. METHODS: Semi-structured interviews were performed, and data were analyzed using qualitative content analysis. RESULTS: Supervising internationally educated nurses was not the same as supervising nursing students and raised feelings of both joy and frustration. Preceptors had to adapt supervision to the student's nursing knowledge and skills. They had to help students communicate in Swedish and form good relationships with other students, patients, and other professionals. Most preceptors requested more information about the student's nurse education, country of education/cultural background, and previous work experiences. Mixed experiences of support from the university, first-line managers, and colleagues were reported. CONCLUSIONS: Being a preceptor for internationally educated nurses is a challenge, and supervision training is important for managing preceptorship. To supervise students based on their level of knowledge and skills, more information must be shared with the preceptor. Encounters with others are of importance in the training, where teamwork and person-centered care must be in focus, both in prior theoretical education and in clinical practice education.

Three paths to a Swedish nursing license: Two for internationally educated nurses and one for regular nursing students - A cross-sectional study of self-rated professional competence, self-efficacy, and thriving.

BACKGROUND: Bridging programs are offered to support migrated nurses, but in some countries, nurses can also choose to validate their nursing competence. Thus far, little is known about how migrated nurses estimate their competence when they are about to enter working life in a new country and how this differs from regular nursing students. OBJECTIVE: To compare two groups of internationally educated nurses' - those from bridging programs and those who chose validation - and one group of regular nursing students' self-rated professional competence when they are about to start working as registered nurses. The hypotheses were: 1) internationally educated nurses rate their competence higher than regular nursing students and 2) those from bridging programs rate their competence higher than those who chose validation. In addition, the aim was to compare the groups' self-efficacy and thriving. DESIGN: A cross-sectional, comparative design. SETTINGS: Five universities in Sweden. PARTICIPANTS: Nurses educated in non-European countries from a bridging program (n = 128, response rate 79.0 %) or validation process (n = 61, response rate 59.2 %) and students graduating from the regular nursing program (n = 213, response rate 68.3 %). METHODS: Data were collected with coded questionnaires (paper or online) between 2019 and 2021 and analyzed using non-parametric tests, e.g., Kruskal-Wallis. RESULTS: Both groups of internationally educated nurses had higher median scores on total nursing competence (both groups p < 0.001), general self-efficacy (bridging programs p < 0.001, validation p = 0.020), and total thriving (bridging programs p < 0.001, validation p = 0.012) than regular nursing students did. However, comparing the groups of internationally educated nurses showed no significant differences. CONCLUSION: Internationally educated nurses rated their competence high but with differences within the groups for different competence areas. More research is needed to investigate whether the different paths are important for nurses' competence later in working life, and some of the competence areas might need extra attention when nurses start working.

Attending a bridging program to obtain a Swedish nursing license: An interview study with internationally educated nurses.

BACKGROUND: Bridging programs have been created to facilitate internationally educated nurses' integration process. Thus far, studies on bridging programs have been few and have only been conducted in English-speaking countries. Due to language barriers, it may be a greater challenge to attend a bridging program in a non-English-speaking country. OBJECTIVES: The aim was to examine internationally educated nurses' experience of attending a one-year bridging program to obtain a Swedish nursing license. DESIGN: A qualitative study with a descriptive design was applied. SETTINGS: The study setting was the five universities offering the one-year, full-time Swedish bridging program. PARTICIPANTS: Purposive sampling was used. Eighteen nurses participated in the study at the end of the program. METHODS: Semi-structured interviews were conducted and analyzed using qualitative content analysis. RESULTS: Studying in a new environment and language was challenging and intensive, as were adapting to a new healthcare system and relearning some nursing practices. However, attending the bridging program was also rewarding and gave feelings of happiness and pride; the nurses developed their nursing skills as well as their language and academic skills. Moreover, they became familiar with Sweden's nursing practices, healthcare system, and culture. Good support was important, but not always enough. CONCLUSIONS: By attending a bridging program, nurses can become familiar with the country's healthcare system and nursing practices. Moreover, develop their language skills and attain skills important to lifelong learning. Although the program may not eliminate all difficulties nurses often experience in a new country, it can offer the support nurses need to handle the challenges. However, for some nurses, due to different backgrounds and prerequisites, the support offered may need to be more individualized.