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

Talent management of international nurses in healthcare settings: A systematic review

“…Research has highlighted the benefits of training international nurses on intercultural communication [ 89 ]. The benefits of a bridging program for international nurses in Sweden was narrated in another study [ 91 ] although it did not address all the challenges of cultural integration, but it was useful to improve language skills and nursing skills of this cohort. Researchers have attributed the smooth experience of migration of international nurses to the constant interaction and adjustment between nurses and organisations which presents a holistic approach to recruiting and talent management of international nurses where organisations share the responsibility of professional transitioning and cultural integration [ 85 ].…”

Transitioning experiences of internationally educated nurses in host countries: A narrative systematic review

“…Although evidence exists exploring the integration challenges internationally educated nurses face ( Davda et al, 2018 ; Bond et al, 2020 ; Abuliezi et al, 2021 ), most studies focused on either internationally educated nurses from a specific healthcare setting ( Almansour et al, 2022 ), ethnicity ( Al‐Hamdan et al, 2015 ; Stubbs, 2017 ; Gillin and Smith, 2021 ; Almansour et al, 2022 ) country ( Al‐Hamdan et al, 2015 ; Zhong et al, 2017 ) or on their registration processes; e.g., passing exams such as the Overseas Nursing ( Stubbs, 2017 ) or Bridging Programmes ( Högstedt et al, 2021 ). To our knowledge, no systematic reviews have explored barriers and enablers to optimising internationally educated nurses' experiences of working in their host countries.…”

Nurses’ experiences of a recertification process involving a series of examinations to obtain a nursing license in a new country

“…Previous research on IENs' experiences of the recertification process has, however, mainly been conducted in English-speaking countries such as Canada (Covell et al, 2015;Salami et al, 2018), the US (Liou & Cheng, 2011), the UK (Allan & Westwood, 2016) and Australia (Chun Tie et al, 2019), which differ from the Nordic countries in, for example their language, culture, migration policies, recertification processes and the nursing profession. Furthermore, there has been some research on bridging programmes (Hadziabdic et al, 2021;Högstedt et al, 2021), but less on IENs who undergo recertification mainly by taking examinations to obtain a nursing license. Thus, the focus here is to expand the knowledge of how IENs experience the recertification process when undergoing a series of examinations to test their nursing knowledge and skills and, thereby, obtain a Swedish nursing license.…”

“…Australia, Canada, the UK, Sweden), IENs are offered some kind of educational programme, for example bridging programmes, competency-based assessment programmes and overseas nurse programmes. These programmes have been shown to help IENs in their professional recertification (Chun Tie et al, 2019;Covell et al, 2018;Hadziabdic et al, 2021;Högstedt et al, 2021), however, not all countries offer these programmes, and not all IENs are able to attend a programme. In Sweden, IENs from non-EU countries can, after approval from the Swedish Board of Health and Welfare (SBHW), choose between two paths to obtain a Swedish nursing license: complete a series of examinations or complete a 1year full-time bridging programme (Figure 1).…”