Sense of Belonging to the University as a Nursing Student
Abstract
Background: The majority of institutions worldwide recognize the importance of boosting nursing students’ positive perception and sense of belongingness to the learning institution. Although only a few researchers have written about the issue compared to the majority, who wrote on after school and workplace sense of belongingness. Nonetheless, the study aims to use the few available research reviews to find out factors that determine the nursing student’s sense of belonging to the university since it is the foundation process of becoming a professional nurse.
Methodology: The researcher applied a systematic scoping review (Joanna Briggs Methodology) in conjunction with a database search of Medline Ovid, Pubmed, Cinahl, Cochrane, Proquest to establish recent primary studies. The researcher drew the data from the conclusion context and the available reviews, analyze the information qualitatively and quantitatively.
Results: The few existing research covers a wide range of information that gave an insight into factors that facilitate or hinder the sense of belonging to the learning institution by the nursing students. Such factors include the university setup/environment that reflects the possible student activities and the ratio of staff-students, which reveals the interaction capacity, tutors’ expertise that determines the mentorship capacity towards students, and the teaching paradigm. The study also revealed some areas that require more research and address to boost learners’ sense of belongingness towards their schools.
Conclusion: the health sector is facing a big challenge due to the emergence of different health conditions such a COVID19 that require more nurse practitioners. Further, many researchers have written on the attachment after nurses graduate and pay little attention to the issues during the learning period, which leads to such graduations. Therefore, education boards and other policymakers should focus on motivational factors for learners towards their learning institution.
Keywords: Nursing students, university belongingness, and school environment.
What is known?
Nations across the world are experiencing nursing practitioners shortage.
Educators-students interaction can improve learners’ performance and retention.
Many students have an interest in nursing, but they end up pursuing other courses, and some join nursing studies but do not complete it.
What is new?
The majority of students believe that faculty intervention determines the learning atmosphere.
Faculty orientation, support and intervention of the first-year students is vital to improving a sense of belongingness to the institution by the students.
A University learning environment is a contributor to students’ sense of belongingness.
Sense of Belonging to the University by a Nursing Student
Nursing students’ retention and success is a big challenge to many nations across the globe, despite the high demand for their duties due to the ever-increasing health conditions that require home-based care and hospital-based care. A number of learning institutions have made changes in their admission policies, especially in nursing faculty aiming to attract more nursing students, improve their performance and retention. Many students show interest in the nursing field, but only a few pursue the course. Besides, some may join the faculty but fail to complete or their performance decrease as they progress, and eventually graduate with poor grades. The few existing studies reveal that poor performance occurs since many students lack a high sense of belongingness to the university, so researchers should sufficiently research and suggest measures to smoothen the process for learners who want to become professional nurses.
Higher learning institutions are responsible for promoting student retention and performance to equip nations with qualified nurses. The government expects to have sufficient high qualified, and skilled graduates to bridge the gap between nurses and patients and replace the retiring practitioners to ensure continued quality patient care. According to Henderson, Sewell & Wei (2019), universities can only achieve such responsibility by boosting the sense of belongingness to the college by learners. Al-Sheeb, Hamouda & Abdella (2018) suggest that school administration cannot effectively promote the students’ feeling of belongingness in their final years. It should be practiced from the time of admission so ensure students attain good grades at all levels. The faculty should start mentoring the nursing students from the first day of admission by proper orientation, sufficient interaction with educators and their fellow students, which can be facilitated by establishing workshops and discussion clubs. On that note, leaders and lecturers should always be ready to respond to students’ enquiries and, more importantly, support and motivate underperforming students (Al-Sheeb et al. 2018). By doing so, students will feel welcomed and develop a positive attitude towards the course and the entire school environment, which in return will improve their performances.
Belongingness plays a crucial role in the nursing learning environment and the entire professional life of health practitioners. Thus, a student who has a sense of belongingness feels motivated, participates in course activities and performs better than those with a low sense of belongingness. As claimed by Salehian, Heydari, Aghebati, & Moonaghi (2017), teachers should find programs to kill the classroom boredom that can interfere with student’s attention. Such as give real-life encounters stories that encourage and make the student realize that tutors value and need them. Precisely, the faculty should promote programs that enhance students-educators interaction and involve them in clinical activities to create an environment that enables them to express their feelings and capabilities to boost their morale and positive attitude. Carragher & McGaughey (2016) claim that peer mentoring contributes significantly to students’ sense of belongingness, especially in various transition stages. Each level has different challenges, and therefore when lecturers are supportive, students will be ready and steady to face any kind of eventuality. Besides, nursing education programs have transitioned from the traditional system to a new syllabus where more pre-registration education is taught at the third level. That leads nurse students and midwives to fall in the same category with third-level students, posing a challenge for students to adapt automatically (Carragher & McGaughey (2016). At that point, learners require close support and intervention of the faculty. Otherwise, the associated stresses like financial and academic pressure can cause the student to lose a sense of belongingness, leading to low retention and performance rate.
Methodology
A number of scholars researched the sense of belongingness to the workplace or community after nurses graduate, leaving a gap in the belongingness sense by learners towards their universities, which makes the study necessary. The researcher will be explicit on the selection and identification of the existing literature and thus consider it as systematic. Notably, even though the study analyzed the previous studies and pointed out their strength and weaknesses points, the researcher could not give an in-depth appraisal of either the reviewed literature and therefore taken as a scoping review applied to find the gap and outline the findings. For the research to establish several current studies, it applied Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA). It explored databases such as Medline Ovid, Pubmed, Cinahl, Cochrane, Proquest using keywords such as belongingness sense, nursing students and university environment. On that note, the study evaluated the sensitivity of such searches using a more comprehensive search to eliminate any chance of biasness and improve the validity of the research. Further, the researcher carried out a specified search on the database for literature by particular scholars and explored the global websites.
The study considered currently reviewed articles and journals to avoid outdated information, whereby a number of them were eliminated to settle at the ones deemed to have the required information.
The selection of the material to review was in-line with the purpose of the scoping review, whereby the most preferred and considered primary literature was that which revealed the factors that determine the sense of belongingness to the higher learning institutions by the students. Such as educators’ expertise, university environment, faculty administration policies and any other issue that affects the students’ performance and retention. Since they, in one way or another, contribute to students’ sense of belongingness. Nonetheless, the research was open to any other material that could reveal the effect of the school environment on the performance of students from different diversity and educational backgrounds. However, any other literature that does not associate with students learning environment was left out to avoid bulkiness that could delay the research and or complicate the process. The researcher observed rules, regulations, and guidelines governing the research work, such as disclosing unauthorized information of the scholar and non-acknowledgement of work done by others to avoid violation of research rule that could compromise the validity of the research.
Results
The study settled at seven articles to review those meet criteria of inclusion. The researcher initially considered three hundred searches, whereby he applied EndNote and Covidence to eliminate duplicate records. After deduplication, two hundred and fifty distinctive citations were found. The study reviewed titles and abstracts of the remaining articles and further full text of thirty pieces. The researcher followed the process strictly to avoid eliminating resourceful materials, and lastly, settled at seven literature to review that meet the inclusion criteria.
The research analyzed the few different existing reviews written on the learning environment and belongingness and revealed several factors that determine the level of attachment sense among students towards their higher learning institutions. Even though along the way, the research discovered much research work was done on the spirit of belongingness after nurse graduates, particularly in workplaces. The study claims that the ratio of lecturers to students in the nursing faculty contributes much to the issue since it determines the interaction rate that can exist and the speed level a tutor can respond to student’s needs (Henderson, Sewell & Wei, 2019). Concurrently, the majority of the reviewed article reflects more on the school environment, whereby university that has programs such as nursing clubs and workshops promote students attitudes. It creates chances for them to share their views and enables the administration to discover areas that need improvement for smooth learning and student retention (Metzger, Dowling, Guinn & Wilson, 2020). Dunbar & Carter (2017) claim that many universities promote student engagement, especially nurse students, as a way of improving their attractiveness to the course and boost their competence. Engaging learners further enhances their sense of being part of the faculty, making them build a strong bond with their learning institution and the field. The feeling of attachment is paramount to human motivation that influences behavioural and emotional patterns, which is key to the livelihood of a student. Hence, since governments across the world expect more qualified graduate from universities to bridge the gap that exists between patients and nurse, they need to invest more on the learning environment to ensure the student feel more attached to their respective university and the field of the study so that they can put more effort to improve their grade as well as advice other to join the nursing field. Dunbar & Carter (2017) argue that institution management should create an enabling environment that supports self-directed student learning in conjunction with interactive studies to allow self-assessment, point out the area they should improve and gain the confidence to seek educators’ intervention where necessary. Thus, facilitating the student to feel that they fit in the learning system. Therefore, higher learning institutions should create a welcoming, connecting and supportive environment amongst students and teaching fraternity.
Students face academic challenges, mainly arising from failed faculty caring leading to stress if there is no one to intervene. Students perceive the faculty tutors as their role model and expect various support from them. Consequently, universities should employ and retain experts who can show empathy towards students. The literature indicates that students who frequently interact with their instructors are more likely to build a positive attitude towards the faculty despite challenges they encounter within the school. In contrast, those who rarely interact have a high probability of dropping out when facing academic difficulties since they do not feel fully attached to the institution. Henderson, Sewell & Wei (2019) claim that teachers improve the students’ sense of belonging through caring communication skills that show respect to every student despite their diversity, performance and understanding. Students’ confidence, which the review described as the self-reliance ability in different environments, is among the determinants of belongingness (Henderson, Sewell & Wei 2019). In that, instructors should strive to install confidence in students and value their opinions. Henderson, Sewell & Wei (2019) suggest that showing respect to students, accomodating their views and installing confidence reflect the personal caring characteristics that make learners feel welcomed, appreciated and wanted in the university and students are likely to remain with such feeling even later after graduation.
The classroom atmosphere is another factor of concern that can motivate or kill the morale of nursing students. Tutors should be flexible and understanding, enabling them to come up with learning programs that fit the learners. For example, they should not always give dictation or instruction to students. Instead, they should challenge, encourage, and guide students to solve problems, which promotes the students’ feeling that their leaders understand them better, fostering good relationships (Henderson, Sewell & Wei, 2019). Compassionate learning atmosphere enhances students feeling of care and love, thereby promoting the sense of belongingness to the university, resulting in good performances and retention.
The articles reviewed indicate the majority of the students prefer an institution that has competent educators. As Henderson, Sewell & Wei (2019) claim, tutors should have the capacity to give students quality assignments and do proper assessments. However, about 40 percent of the students from the review reported having experienced unfair evaluation. On that note, the e-learning reflects much on the nursing sense of belongingness to a university, bearing in mind most of the online learners do not interact face-to-face with their instructors. Thus, tutors should ensure sufficient engagement, assessment and immediate response to such students’ needs to make them feel they are considered and form part of the university. This finding also reflects on the nursing course attractiveness to learners. Notably, nursing is a profession that focuses on human contact and care, so the faculty should portray such kinds of characters to the learners. According to the literature review, students reported cases of discriminations or favourism, where male instructors favour female students more than the male students, which ruin the morale and create negative perception within the faculty. Hence, the discriminated group feel they do not belong there. Therefore, the administration should fight against gender bias by creating a gender equality environment.
University accommodates students of various diversities such as culture and ethnicity, which attract differences and conflict in the classroom. Instructors play the role of modelling among others, and therefore they should find programs that draw all students together and facilitate understanding and respect for everyone’s differences. For example, a lecturer can introduce a caring behaviour objective learning pattern to enable students to fit in the learning environment (Salehian, Heydari, Aghebati & Moonaghi, 2017). Students feel free to share their opinions and ask questions in the classroom if they relate well with others, which calls for the tutors to strategies learning activities that boost interactions such as workshops. Salehian et al. (2017) argue that promoting a caring attitude in the university propels a sense of self-awareness, self-esteem and equality, enabling students to concentrate on the studies other than spending more time straggling to attach themself with the university. On the contrary, some universities have restrictions that hinder tutors-students interaction, such as behaviourism tradition, administrative policies and inflexibility of learning programs, which education policymakers should address to cope with changing time.
Discussion
The findings suggest that belongingness in the attitude that students have towards the learning institution. The study revealed various factors that determine the level of belongingness to a university by students as well as the gap that researchers should research on.
According to the study finding, the educators-students ratio is among the determinant of the students’ sense of belongingness to the university because if the ratio is balanced, it creates more significant opportunities for students to interact with their instructors. Additionally, it allows teachers to respond to students’ inquiries without delay. Concurrently, the school administration that creates an environment that advocates for students’ self-driven learning enables them to evaluate themselves. Many students reflected attraction to a university that has experienced instructors since they use learning communications that show respect to every person despite their weaknesses, which facilitate students’ self-reliance. Learners perceive faculty as caring and welcoming, if it shows respect to students, value their opinions, and thus embrace such involvement. Further, a classroom atmosphere that is accommodative and flexible to meet students’ needs is likely to attract and promote students’ senses of attachment than the one that gives strict directives for students to follow.
The study revealed that most nursing students feel they belong to a university if there are competent educators with a sense of equality and capacity to assess student performance. However, some male students reported gender discrimination cases that destroy their positive attitude towards the learning environment. Subsequently, ethnicity and cultural diversity is an issue of concern that calls for the instructors to model students to be able to understand and accommodate everyone so that the minority does not feel misplaced.
Nonetheless, the significant limitation of the study is that there are few studies done on nursing student’s sense of belongingness to the higher learning environment issue, and thus there was a shortage of reliable existing research.
Conclusion
A sense of belongingness to a university by a student is crucial in improving the performance and retention of nurse students since it forms bases for the process of becoming a professional nurse. University administration should start modelling the student from the time of admission so to encourage performance, attitude and retention. Factors such as educators-students ratio, educators’ expertise, classroom atmosphere and student diversity play a key role in shaping the perception of students towards their learning institutions, which school admission and tutors should consider and address accordingly. Sufficient caring, interaction, assessment and excellent communication promote students’ sense of belongingness to a university. Nonetheless, researchers should research factors that can facilitate flexibility of nursing learning programs to accommodate distinct approaches by the instructors.
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