Enhancing Belonging and Success for International Nursing Students: A Transition Support Toolkit Informed by Lived Experiences
Tuesday, April 14, 2026 1:30 PM - 2:15 PM
ADVISING IN A TIME OF CHANGE
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Session Outline
International Nursing Students in UK higher education face complex academic, clinical, socio cultural, and psychological challenges that can affect their sense of belonging, engagement, and overall wellbeing (Weurlander et al., 2018; Wu & Hammond, 2011). These include navigating unfamiliar academic expectations, adapting to clinical placements, managing linguistic differences, and negotiating social and cultural norms. Addressing these challenges is essential for fostering inclusion, promoting resilience, and enabling students to thrive. This paper presents a transition support toolkit developed by the Network of Internationally Educated Nurse Academics, informed by the lived experiences of academics who were once International Nursing Students themselves and now teach in the UK. Evidence suggests that a seamless transition enhances progression into professional life (Opoku et al., 2021).
The toolkit supports students across five domains: socio cultural, linguistic, academic, psychological, and professional, and is organised into a four stage framework: Applying, Arriving, Adapting, and Achieving. Each stage offers guidance, resources, reflective exercises, and strategies to support integration and progression (UKCISA, 2018; Zheng et al., 2023). Applying provides information on university selection, visa preparation, and pre departure planning. Arriving focuses on induction, orientation, and early academic and social integration. Adapting offers ongoing academic and clinical support, personal tutoring, mentoring, and access to wellbeing resources. Achieving facilitates professional development, Nursing and Midwifery Council registration, and transition into employment.
Grounded in the Academic Hospitality Model, the toolkit reconceptualises International Nursing Students as contributors of cultural and social capital rather than passive recipients of support (Phipps & Barnett, 2007; Zembylas, 2020; Bennett, 2000). It demonstrates how personal tutoring and academic advising can foster belonging, mattering, and inclusive engagement. For educators, it provides practical strategies to create supportive learning environments where diverse students can thrive, build confidence, and succeed academically and professionally (Royal College of Nursing, 2024; Royal College of Nursing, 2025). By centring lived experiences and embedding inclusive practices, the toolkit enhances retention, engagement, and the development of a globally competent nursing workforce.
Learning Outcomes
Understand how the NIENA toolkit structures personalised tutoring and academic advising across four transition stages.
Apply the Academic Hospitality Model to support belonging, mattering and culturally responsive practice.
Identify strategies that promote well-being, resilience, academic success and professional development for INS.
Reflect on their own tutoring practices to create inclusivity
Bibliography
Phipps, A., & Barnett, R. (2007). Academic Hospitality. Arts and Humanities in Higher Education, 6(3), 237-254. https://doi.org/10.1177/1474022207080829
Royal College of Nursing (2024). International students: rising above the challenges.
Royal College of Nursing (2025). Resolution: International student nurse hardship.
Scherer, L.A. & Leshner, A.I. (Eds.) (2021). Mental Health, Substance Use, and Wellbeing in Higher Education: Supporting the Whole Student. National Academies Press.
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. (2021). Mental health, substance use, and wellbeing in higher education.
The Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford (2024). Student Migration to the UK.
UK Council for International Student Affairs (UKCISA) (2018). Facing culture shock.
UUKi annual report 2022–23. (2022). Universities UK.
UKCISA (2023). Supporting international students.
Weurlander, M. et al. (2018). How do medical and nursing students experience emotional challenges during clinical placements? Int. J. Medical Education, 9, 74–82.
Wu, W., & Hammond, M. (2011). Challenges of university adjustment in the UK.
Zembylas, M. (2020). From the Ethic of Hospitality to Affective Hospitality.
Competencies
This session addresses the following competencies of the UKAT Professional Framework for Advising and Tutoring
P2 - Appreciate students’ views and cultures, maintain a student-centred approach and mindset, and treat students with sensitivity and fairness
C3 - Academic advising and tutoring approaches and strategies