When Jessica Sondhi-Cooke crosses the stage this week at the Fall Convocation, she’s not just celebrating the completion of her master’s degree in nursing, she’s doing so with a clear mission: to transform how nursing students are taught, supported and protected in Canada — both in the classroom and in clinical settings.
It’s ambitious. But so is Sondhi-Cooke.
Over the past two years, she has been investigating a deeply underreported issue as part of her master’s thesis: the prevalence of violence and racism experienced by nursing students during clinical placement.
“We need a systems-level approach to anti-violence and anti-racism. This needs to be trauma-informed across all layers, but it begins with education,” she says.
A sister’s influence
Growing up, Sondhi-Cooke didn’t have a specific dream job in mind. A creative person, she considered going into fashion before her empathetic nature pulled her toward social work. She was unsure how to channel her passions, but that would all change after a conversation with her sister, a nurse.
“She was the one that gave me the elevator pitch on nursing. She explained everything I could do and how it would give me a pathway to make changes in people’s lives,” she recalls.
Sondhi-Cooke would go on to start her nursing education in college, before transitioning to university. When she eventually arrived at McMaster for her master’s degree, Sondhi-Cooke’s supervisor, Nancy Carter, encouraged her to pursue the thesis stream.
“At orientation, I asked in the Zoom chat if it was possible to transition from the course-based stream into the thesis stream. Dr. Carter just said, ‘Let’s have a meeting,’ and from there she was able to see that I had passion and interest in things. And she’s really supported me since then.”
Carter describes Sondhi-Cooke as a critical thinker, who leads through her own experiences and weaves passion for equity, diversity and inclusion across her research.
“Her master’s thesis and defence was excellent, and the next step is doctoral studies where she will continue to explore how nursing students experience violence and racism and the development of interventions for faculty and preceptors,” Carter says.
A systemic problem
During the time she had spent in clinical settings, Sondhi-Cooke had witnessed violence affecting nursing students firsthand. In the thesis stream, she felt empowered to use research to evolve and transform the system. She explored a question that was important for nursing students as a whole, and for her personally: How prevalent is violence against nursing students?
“We don’t have any numbers when it comes to the prevalence of this issue within Canada. It is being researched around the world but not here,” she says.
This important revelation set the trajectory of Sondhi-Cooke’s thesis in motion. She could now fill the void of data and push progress forward. Over the next two years, she would discover that verbal violence is the most common form of violence nursing students face in clinical settings.
“The highest violence type was verbal violence, and then racism, although there were some prevalence of physical violence and sexual violence, which is very disheartening.”
Sondhi-Cooke also found that anxiety was the most common psychological impact. In some cases, these factors outweigh students’ desire to continue a career in nursing, she found.
Sondhi-Cooke’s research also reveals a deeper, systemic issue: the normalization of violence across generations of nurses.
When students experience mistreatment during their clinical placements, they often enter the workforce desensitized to it. Over time, these same individuals may become mentors or instructors themselves, unintentionally perpetuating the very culture that harmed them.
She calls this the cycle of internalized oppression, where trauma is passed down, not out of malice, but because it’s been accepted as “just part of the job.”
“Instead of nurses eating their young, we need to have nurses keep their young. We need a shared responsibility within the community of nursing to support, uplift and really care about each other’s well-being.”
While the data painted a stark picture of the challenges nursing students face, Sondhi-Cooke is hopeful for change.
“When nursing students hear that this work is being done, they’re hopeful that someone’s looking at it. I think it’s inspired many of my fellow students.”
Pushing for change
Sondhi-Cooke is now pursuing her PhD in McMaster’s School of Nursing. Equipped with data from her thesis, she wants to push the research she compiled to the next level.
Her goal is to develop trauma-informed, anti-racist, and anti-violence strategies that can be implemented across nursing programs.
That includes better training for educators and clinical staff, clearer reporting pathways for students, and fostering a culture of shared responsibility.
“I don’t want this research to just sit on a shelf to make publications. I want this to be mobilized in a way that we actually change something,” Sondhi-Cooke says.
“I truly believe the last two years have changed my life. I met the right people that I needed in my life to show me my potential, to finally feel like I’m heard, I’m seen.”
Sondhi-Cooke also hopes to build a long and meaningful career at McMaster — giving back the support she received and helping future students find their place.
“I would love to be one of those people eventually that could maybe carry on that legacy of getting other students or scholars where they need to be and making a home for them at McMaster.”