Kim M. Mitchell

Literacy is complex and impacts safety in nursing. When using language, nurses are constantly switching between medical language proficiency, academic language proficiency, and social language proficiency. The purpose of this mixed-methods study was to trial an English language exam specific to the nursing profession – the Canadian English Language Benchmark Assessment for Nurses (CELBAN) – in 13 nursing students and identify how language testing scores related to habits of literacy in reading, writing, speaking, and listening. In addition to writing the CELBAN exam students competed several questionnaires and participated in a one-on-one interview where they discussed their literacy habits and completed a series of literacy activities including C-tests and role plays. Findings indicated that the students’ performance on the CELBAN and C-test was related. Integrated data collection showed that students with low reading and writing self-efficacies and poor reading habits tended to also have poorer performance on the CELBAN and C-tests. Presently, medical language literacy is a facet of nursing practice that is “better caught than taught.” Overall, this study adds to the literature by demonstrating that students have reading, writing, speaking and listening habits that are amenable to intervention through attention to pedagogical practices such as simulated learning and formalized supports.

Background: Teacher self-efficacy can be defined as the confidence teachers hold about their individual and collective capacity to influence student learning. While many faculty assign and assess student writing as part of their course activities, they often perceive the act of writing as separate from rather than complementary to their teaching of subject matter content. This paper will report on the combined findings of two large survey studies of 385 faculty at Canadian universities, polytechnics and colleges. The purpose of the study was to assess faculty individual and collective self-efficacy for teaching writing. Methods: Data was collected from faculty via an electronic survey distributed by email or social media (Twitter). Faculty responded to the Individual and Collective Self-Efficacy for Teaching Writing Scales. They also responded to open-ended questions asking them to relate how they felt about their abilities to guide student writing. Results: Participants’ average age was 49.9 years with 14.5 years of teaching experience. Participants reported their individual self-efficacy for teaching writing at 77.2% while feeling that their departments as a whole were only 60% confident at teaching writing. Higher individual self-efficacy for teaching writing were found in faculty who were in combined research and teaching positions, PhD prepared, with prior formal education in teaching writing, and with 20 or more years of teaching experience. No statistically significant findings were observed with the Collective Self-Efficacy scale. From the qualitative survey data three themes were identified: 1) Blaming and lamenting; 2) Is teaching writing our responsibility? 3) Hopeful efforts and recognitions. Conclusion: Overall, the data is rife with narratives of blaming students and institutions for student inability to write and faculty questioning their role as writing instructor. These narratives drown out the narratives of faculty who have a passion for teaching writing. Future research should focus on the development of formalized workshops to support faculty teaching writing and changing their attitudes toward the developmental and disciplinary shared responsibility of writing instruction in higher education.

: In this review, we examine studies of writing self-efficacy conducted with postsecondary students published between 1984 and 2021. We aimed to inventory the methodological choices, writing contexts, and types of pedagogies explored in studies of writing self-efficacy with postsecondary students, and summarize the practical implications noted across the included studies. A total of 50 studies met eligibility criteria. All studies used quantitative methods, were conducted in English language settings, focused on undergraduate or graduate students, and included at least one writing self-efficacy measure. Across the 50 studies, the two variables most commonly appearing alongside writing self-efficacy were writing performance and writing apprehension. Many studies also assessed change in writing self-efficacy over time. Writing contexts and measures of writing self-efficacy varied across the included studies. Common practical implications noted across studies included students’ tendency to overinflate their writing self-efficacy, recognition of the developmental nature of writing ability, the importance of teacher attitudes and instructional climate, the influence of feedback on writing self-efficacy, and approaches to teaching and guiding writing. Based on this review, we see several directions for future research including a need for longitudinal studies, consideration of situated approaches, identification of diversity impacts, and attention to consistent use of strong multidimensional measures of writing self-efficacy.

Defining a nurse as literate is disciplinary and contextual, linked to professional identity formation, and an issue impacting patient safety. Literacy and language proficiency are concepts assessed through examining skills in four pillars: reading, writing, speaking, and listening. This article explores how literacy is not only a practice issue but inextricably intertwined with issues of race, equity, diversity, and inclusiveness in our profession—both in regulatory policy and classroom pedagogy. In making the argument that language is a proxy for race, three cases of language and literacy will be presented. First, the deficit discourse of multilingual student struggle is stereotyped to the presence or absence of an accent, with multilingual student needs often treated homogeneously in disregard of population heterogenous abilities. Second, regulatory policies for language testing internationally educated nurses are discriminatory with testing context bearing little relationship to the language needs of nursing practice. Third, that the myth of “one standard English” results in racist evaluation practices of student academic performance. Recommendations are made for reframing how language and literacy are viewed in nursing education and regulation of practice with a focus on acknowledgment of one's personal relationship to racial issues and emphasizing the need for a change in mindset toward racialized multilingual students and writers.

Background: Increasing evidence shows that Indigenous Peoples of Canada experience greater health disparities and receive lesser quality of health care services than non-Indigenous Canadian people. There is an important need to educate health care professionals to be knowledgeable about Indigenous culture, Canadian history, and culturally safe care. Purpose: This project aimed to evaluate if student perceptions of Indigenous Peoples, knowledge of Indigenous culture, and a student’s cultural competency improved through participation in a required Indigenous health course in the third year of one Canadian Bachelor of Nursing program. Methods: A pretest posttest design measured student self-reported Knowledge of Factors Impacting Indigenous Health, Interest in Indigenous Issues, and Perceptions of Indigenous People. Students wrote reflections on their learning throughout the course which were analyzed to understand the nature of how their thinking transformed through exposure to Indigenous history and its impact on the relationship between Indigenous populations and the health care system in Canada. Results: We used previously validated instruments in our study: Student Knowledge of Factors Impacting Indigenous Health, Interest in Indigenous Issues and Attitudes about Indigenous People. Student scores on all three measures improved from the beginning until the end of the course. Previous Indigenous education and experience working in a health care environment had minimal impact on students’ growth on these measures. The analysis of the student reflections rooted in a cultural competence framework showed the transformative nature of their learning. Conclusion: Increasing the knowledge of nursing students about historical factors in a colonial context impacting Indigenous Peoples’ health addresses a key call to action of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. Indigenous Health courses within nursing curricula can stimulate the personal transformations needed within health care professionals to promote willingness to advocate with Indigenous populations and facilitate progress toward reducing health inequities and increasing health access in this population. Résumé Contexte : De plus en plus de données probantes montrent que les peuples autochtones du Canada connaissent de plus grandes disparités en matière de santé et reçoivent des services de soins de santé de moindre qualité que les Canadiens non autochtones. Il est important d’éduquer les professionnels de la santé pour qu’ils connaissent la culture autochtone, l’histoire canadienne et les soins culturellement sécuritaires. Objectif : Ce projet visait à évaluer si les perceptions des étudiantes à l’égard des peuples autochtones, la connaissance de la culture autochtone et la compétence culturelle des étudiantes s’amélioraient grâce à la

An introduction to the special issue for Rethinking the Structures of Academic Writing in the Times of Exacerbated Inequity. This paper presents a discussion of the inspiration for this special call for papers, an analysis of the genre presentation of the typical critical examination of problems emerging from social inequities, and a summary of each of the papers contained within the special issue.