For Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) instructor Gillian Spring, helping students feel like they belong has always been a fundamental part of teaching.
Now, that philosophy has been published in a peer-reviewed nursing journal and shared with educators around the world.
Gillian is the sole author of Creating Belonging Within the Clinical Learning Environment, recently published in Nurse Educator. The article, released online in July 2026 and scheduled to appear in 
the journal’s November/December print edition, introduces the Spring Model of Belonging, a framework designed to help nursing educators create more inclusive and supportive learning environments.
“Belonging is a universal human need,” says Spring. “When students feel supported, accepted and valued, they are more likely to have positive learning experiences.”
The model provides practical strategies that instructors can use in classrooms, labs and clinical settings and encourages building genuine connections with students, valuing diverse perspectives, creating psychologically safe learning environments, teaching with equity, strengthening communication, and encouraging peer-to-peer connections.
The work began several years ago while Spring was completing a Master of Nursing degree with a teaching focus.
“When I was selecting a topic for my capstone project, I wanted to explore ways to create a more inclusive clinical learning environment for racialized students,” she explains.
At the time, she was teaching in a large nursing program and was hearing about, and witnessing, experiences of racism that affected students both within the program and during community clinical placements.
“I wanted to better understand the issue and, ultimately, find ways to prevent it from happening.”
That initial research evolved into an extensive review of the literature on belonging in nursing education and eventually led to the development of what is now known as the Spring Model of Belonging. The model combines evidence from research with insights gained through years of teaching experience working with diverse nursing students.
The framework has already attracted interest within the nursing education community. Spring presented the model at nursing conferences in Newfoundland in 2023 and Helsinki, Finland, in 2025 before adapting it into a journal article.
The resulting publication offers nursing instructors and educational leaders tangible strategies they can implement immediately. While developed for nursing education, Spring believes the concepts extend far beyond healthcare.
“Many of the ideas are transferable to other educational environments and workplaces,” she says. “Everyone benefits when they feel a sense of belonging.”
The publication also reflects values that are central to the learning environment at College of the Rockies, including inclusion, respect, connection and student success.
For Spring, seeing years of work culminate in a published article has been deeply rewarding.
“It’s exciting to see something that started as an idea and a master’s project develop into a model that can be shared with other educators,” she says.
Looking ahead, she hopes to continue exploring belonging in nursing education and investigate how the model might be adapted for different educational and professional settings.
As nursing programs across Canada continue to seek ways to support increasingly diverse student populations, Spring’s work offers a practical reminder that creating conditions for learning begins with creating conditions for belonging.