Comparison of second-degree and traditional undergraduate nursing students' sense of belonging during clinical placements.

Second-degree undergraduate nursing programs are proliferating throughout Canada. Although these shorter programs are attracting students from a variety of disciplines and professions, a sense of belonging and the meaning or implications of belongingness have not been examined for this unique nursing student cohort. A survey design, using the Belongingness Scale-Clinical Placement Experience questionnaire, explores second-degree nursing students' sense of belonging, compared with that of 4-year undergraduate nursing students. Overall, second-degree nursing students experienced a sense of belonging during clinical placements to a lesser degree than their counterparts in a traditional nursing program. Providing second-degree students with opportunities to know and create partnerships with nurse educators and staff while on placements, as well as providing them with feedback presented in positive terms, will help these students flourish and engender a greater sense of belonging.