Benefits of the Peer Mentor Program by Mengyu Song

EAL Nursing Support Group

The English As An Additional Language (EAL) nursing support group was initially established in 2009 to support the nursing students who has English as their second or additional language. Through the years, the EAL support group has organized many programs and workshops to help this group of students. The literature has shown that the requirements of EAL nursing students are multifactorial and the School of Nursing and Midwifery of Mount Royal University continues to discover and advance new activities centered around the needs of this group. In this article, I would like to share my experience in EAL support group.

There are many challenges that EAL nursing students need to overcome during their academic years. Starr (2009) analyzed the challenges for students with English as an additional language in nursing education in the domains of language, resources, academics and culture (p.482-484). The author highlighted that language is the most significant challenge for monitoring students as they are learning two new languages: English and healthcare (Starr, 2009, p.485). The language limitation also impacts their ability for critical thinking, communication, reading and writing (Starr, 2009, p.485). I also encountered these problems in my first year of nursing. Besides the language barrier, I found understanding the role of nurses in Canada was particularly challenging since I had never been to a hospital or even met a nurse before. Moreover, my time management skills also compromised my academic standing and I began to doubt that nursing was the right career choice for me. Luckily, I was referred to the EAL Support Group by one of my nursing instructors. I met with Liza Choi and felt very secure about sharing with her my stories, feelings and even many questions I had. Even now, I remember that I discussed with Liza that I felt that nursing school was very unfair and I started to doubt my learning ability since I spent the same amount of time studying as my friends who were in business classes. They got “A”s in their courses and I almost failed some courses. As I look back at these earlier comments, it makes me laugh so hard. I can’t remember the answers I got at that point but I now have an answer for myself. While we need to study hard, it is critical to understand that nurses are at the forefront of taking on the responsibility for our patients’ health, safety and even life. The greatest reward in being a nurse is helping patients through recovery, observing the improvements in their health as well as linking all the various determinants of health to their overall wellness. Liza also shared her experiences as a nursing student and I realized and appreciated that there are many more resources for us as nursing students with English as second language compared to her time as a student. During my talks with Liza, I had an opportunity to reflect on myself and find solutions for the many difficulties that I faced.

I also attended the peer tutor program which is a one-on-one program to assist students’ special needs. I have had the opportunity to become a mentee and a mentor. During mentoring, my partner and I shared and discussed our academic challenges, such as time management and ways of improving particular aspects of communication, reading and writing. It was a rich and fruitful learning opportunity for both mentors and mentees. Mentors can also be role models for mentees and it has been stated by Starr (2009) about the importance of mentoring and role modeling for monitory nursing students (p. 485). There are also different workshops I participated in, such as writing and pronunciation classes. They were very helpful for my studies. The instructor in the pronunciation class discovered that my pronunciation of words with “V” was incorrect. I had never realized this mistake before. Moreover, there were monthly group gatherings where the group members were able to share their experiences as well as enjoying good food, getting to know each other and making new friends in the nursing program. I felt that this program also provided an opportunity to share with other nursing colleagues our special experiences and feelings of joy and sorrow that we experienced during our practicums. The sharing of common experiences made our difficulties easier to bear, since our own friends and families were not able to understand our circumstances .

Every year the EAL support group expands with new students joining the group including former and senior nursing students seeking to help out. There are also many challenges for the faculty to organize these programs. For example, the students are very busy with their lives, so it is hard to arrange the time for group gatherings or workshops. Also, lack of resources is another important issue. It is very exciting to see the expansion of our community and growth of each individual in this group. I really appreciate the hard work that the faculty, participants and volunteers have contributed to the group as well as the help I received. I am looking forward to seeing the EAL support group continue to help more students and to advocate for them in the future.

Reference: Starr, K. (2009). Nursing Education Challenges: Students with English as an Additional Language. Journal of Nursing Education, 48(9), p.478-486.