Holistic approaches to student support services in nursing education: A scoping review

To map what is known from existing literature about holistic student support services in nursing education, with attention to how these services are conceptualised, how they are located across ecological levels and what approaches are reported for facilitating student nurses' well-being, academic success, retention and professional development.

Student nurses navigate demanding academic, clinical, emotional, social and professional expectations while preparing for entry into a complex health workforce. Although student support is widely recognised as important for academic success, retention and well-being, support in nursing education is often fragmented or reactive, with the emphasis on academic remediation rather than on coordinated academic, psychosocial, clinical, relational and institutional support.

A scoping review design was used.

The review was guided by Arksey and O'Malley's methodological framework for scoping studies and reported using PRISMA-ScR. Bronfenbrenner's Ecological Systems Theory served as a sensitising framework for mapping evidence. Searches were conducted across six databases.

The search identified 4 312 records. After duplicate removal, screening and eligibility assessment, 22 studies were included. The evidence was organised into three overarching themes: the meaning of holistic student support in nursing education; ecological locations of holistic student support services; and approaches for facilitating holistic student support across the student journey.

Holistic student support in nursing education should be understood as coordinated facilitation of student success rather than narrow academic remediation. Nursing education institutions need proactive, integrated and equity-oriented support systems that promote student nurses' well-being, academic success, retention, clinical learning and professional development.