Identifying Student Learning Challenges and Potential Solutions in Nursing Education Delivery in Rural Nova Scotia...

Rural nursing programs encounter obstacles in providing nursing education opportunities relevant to the escalating needs of rural healthcare. Rural nursing programs often experience limited clinical placements, a stressed and burned-out rural nursing workforce, and difficulty finding nursing preceptors. Moreover, students studying in rural nursing programs experience increased travel, financial and social burden, and have less access to resources and support from their university. There is limited research giving voice to rural nursing students' experience and their suggestions for solutions.

The purpose of this study was to understand the learning challenges of and potential solutions for baccalaureate nursing students attending a rural university.

This is a descriptive qualitative study using photovoice methodology. Participants captured two pictures of things in their school surroundings or personal life that created learning challenges in rural nursing education, and two pictures of potential solutions to these challenges. Participants titled each picture and, using guided questions provided by the researcher, wrote a short reflection of what the photos represented.

Guided by empowerment education for critical consciousness and using Braun and Clarke's thematic analysis and Oliffe et al.'s layered photograph analysis, two overarching themes emerged: access to resources and clinical learning. Findings highlight financial, academic, and accessibility barriers in rural nursing programs as well as participant-determined solutions that could enhance learning experiences, student well-being, and retention in the rural healthcare workforce.

This study identified targeted resources for nursing students attending a rural nursing baccalaureate program to support their learning, wellbeing, and growth into graduate nurses. This study also identified areas for future research to explore nursing student experiences across rural and urban institutions and develop effective learning support strategies for rural nursing education.