Advancing “Writing and Research Skills:” International Educated Nursing Students (IENs)

Description

High-income countries like Canada and the United States address nursing workforce shortages by hiring Internationally Educated Nurses (IENs). However, these countries have shown inadequate response in achieving quality education, including for IENs. IENs face challenges in meeting educational standards and transitioning to nursing programs that require academic skills.

While IEN programs are accredited, they may lack interactive virtual tools for learning essential skills, i.e. writing papers. In response to positive feedback from IEN students, this project aims to develop an open-access, interactive virtual serious game (VSG) to enhance learning in the IEN nursing program. The VSG will cover essay writing, critical appraisal of research, theory application, and APA 7th edition format. An informal needs assessment was conducted with IEN students, and the content will be gamified across three unfolding online modules. Implementing the VSG based on the MORAI framework will support quality education and enhance the reputation of York University and the IEN Program.