English as an Additional Language Learners’ Journey Through Nursing Education in Canada

• EAL nursing students struggle significantly more than their non-EAL peers in nursing school. • Recently graduated EAL nurses’ insights on their time as nursing students has not yet been studied. • New perspective to robustly support current EAL student nurses in Canadian undergraduate programs. Nursing students who speak English as an additional language (EAL) face significant challenges throughout their educational programs. This issue is attributed to numerous causes including admission standards, cultural biases, and other factors. This research study explored the lived experiences of recently graduated EAL nurses, looking back on their Canadian undergraduate nursing education programs. Interpretive description methodology was used in this study. Data sources included interviews with 5 recently graduated EAL nurses as well as artefacts from the public domain including blogs, videos, and a podcast. Three major themes were identified: (1) meaningful connections: “I know what you are going through”; (2) additional mental load: “You will put in more work than your non-EAL peers”; and (3) being an outsider. Understanding the lived experience of recently graduated EAL nurses has the potential to inform and improve pedagogical practices in Canadian nursing education.