Trauma and survivance: The impacts of the COVID‐19 pandemic on Indigenous nursing students

Abstract

The COVID‐19 pandemic has resulted in tremendous educational and health impacts for Indigenous peoples and communities. Yet, little is known about the impacts of the pandemic on Indigenous nursing students in Canada. Guided by an Indigenous conceptual framework and a qualitative sharing circle methodology, the interconnected personal, academic, and community impacts of the pandemic were explored with Indigenous nursing students ( n = 17). Overall, the pandemic exacerbated and compounded prior traumas Indigenous students and communities have experienced across generations on Turtle Island. Participants suffered worsening psychological distress and significant losses during the pandemic, especially losses in learning and cultural safety. However, the pandemic also revealed silver linings including: the benefits of online learning; and demonstrations of posttraumatic growth, survivance, and community strength. These findings are relevant to informing culturally safe and trauma‐informed strategies, policies, administrators, and educators in schools of nursing.

Nursing/midwifery students' perceptions of caring pedagogy and online learning during the COVID‐19 pandemic

“…In this study students promoted the need for connection and support, to enable feeling prepared for practise and being able to connect with education providers, which for some, was made more difficult when delivered in an online environment after experiencing face-toface learning. Previous research supports these findings highlighting the impact connectedness has on learning and maintaining mental health and wellbeing of students (Usher et al, 2023;Van Bewer, 2023). Connection and support for nursing/midwifery students are among the most salient factors in retention and are related to the university's ability to provide tailored services, including support strategies that meet student's social and personal needs like academic writing support (Liu et al, 2023).…”

Exploring paramedic care for First Nations in Alberta: a qualitative study

“… 19 Virtual sharing circles have been previously reported in a qualitative study of the experiences of Indigenous nursing students during the COVID-19 pandemic in which the author adopted Indigenous and Western methods. 20 Before the sessions, participants completed online consent forms or provided verbal consent by telephone, and completed a demographics questionnaire. In the questionnaire, participants indicated whether they were attending as community members or as people involved in paramedic services.…”