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Academic staff perceptions of factors underlying program completion by Australian Indigenous nursing students
West, Roianne Usher, Kim Foster, Kim Narelle Stewart, Lee
West, Roianne
Usher, Kim
Foster, Kim Narelle
Stewart, Lee
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Abstract
An increase in the number of Indigenous health professionals is one way to help reduce the poor health outcomes of Australia's Indigenous people. However, while Indigenous students are enrolling in Australian tertiary undergraduate nursing courses in increasing numbers, their completion rates remain lower than non-Indigenous students and many barriers hinder course completion. This critical interpretive qualitative study explores academic staff perceptions of factors enabling successful course completions by Indigenous nursing students from universities in Queensland, Australia. Content analysis of data revealed five themes: (a) Individual student characteristics; (b) Institutional structures, systems, and processes; (c) Relationships, connections, and partnerships; (d) Family and community knowledge, awareness, and understanding; and (e) Academics' knowledge, awareness, and understanding. To increase the number of Indigenous nurses, strategies such as appointing Indigenous nursing academics; partnerships between nursing schools and Indigenous Education Support Units, and the implementation of tailored cross-cultural awareness programs for nurse academics are proposed.
Keywords
academic staff, indigenous undergraduate nursing students, completion rates, strategies, critical qualitative study, strengths based
Date
2014
Type
Journal article
Journal
The Qualitative Report
Book
Volume
19
Issue
12
Page Range
1-19
Article Number
ACU Department
School of Nursing, Midwifery and Paramedicine
Faculty of Health Sciences
Faculty of Health Sciences
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DOI
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Open Access Status
License
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Controlled