Understanding the Lived Experiences of Saudi Students Enrolled in Canadian Graduate Nursing Programs

Despite the increased number of students in the field of nursing, there is a great shortage of Saudi nurses in Saudi Arabia (SA). Cultural issues in SA have influenced the development of the nursing profession. For instance, it is not culturally acceptable for female nurses or nursing students to work for long hours and night shifts in a mixed-gender practice environment in SA. Thus, a large proportion of nursing students tend to look for positions other than working in hospital settings upon completion of their undergraduate degree. Pursuing graduate nursing education overseas is also viewed as a viable option. To date, research about the nursing profession or nursing education in SA has focused on the social attitudes attributed to the nursing profession, the challenges nursing students encounter during their undergraduate programs, and the difficulties Saudi nurses face in their practice environments. However, the experience of new nurses who chose to pursue graduate education in nursing instead of working in hospital settings has not been substantively studied and thus a gap exists in understanding this phenomenon. This study was conducted using van Manen’s approach to hermeneutic phenomenology to understand the meaning embedded in the experiences of Saudi students in Canada. In this study, 13 Saudi nurses enrolled as students in nursing graduate degree programs in Canada were interviewed. They discussed their lived journey as graduate students, thus providing a deeper understanding of their experiences of acquiring a graduate nursing degree. The following themes that encapsulated participants’ journey of acquiring graduate nursing education in Canada were revealed:Envisioning Possibilities, Transforming, and Re-envisioning. Students’ experiences were reflective of the image of an iceberg, in that what is visible did not reflect what students experienced. The surface or tip of the iceberg represented the taken for granted life of international students enrolled in a graduate program such as having an excellent scholarship that provided funding to cover tuition, daily expenses, and conferences. However, many aspects of students’ lives while acquiring a graduate nursing degree happened below the surface. For example, students reported several cultural and environmental factors that influenced their experiences. These factors were hidden and embedded beneath the surface, which existing literature fails to address. The findings provide nurse leaders, policy makers, educators, and administrators in higher education with insights about the challenging journey that Saudi students embark upon to continue their studies overseas