Professional values in student nurse education: An integrative literature review

AIM

The aim is to understand current research into the impact of undergraduate nursing education on the development of professional values.

BACKGROUND

Values are evident in the professional standards for nurses and the guidelines and healthcare policies of many countries. These professional values guide decisions and behaviour and are recognised as an essential component in the professions ability to provide safe and professional care. This literature review presents the current research on the impact of education on professional values in undergraduate nurse education.

DESIGN

An integrative review of the findings was conducted to provide insight into the current research on the professional value development in undergraduate nurses.

DATA SOURCES

CINAHL, PubMed and Scopus.

REVIEW METHODS

A literature search was undertaken within defined date parameters 2010-2021 using a systematic approach. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analysis guide PRISMA was used to guide and illustrate the process. Papers were assessed for quality using the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool.

RESULTS

Two distinct areas of inquiry were identified. (a) Changes in professional values as an outcome of undergraduate nursing education or (b) changes in professional values as an outcome of specifically designed educational content. These areas were further explored to better understand the influences of undergraduate education on students' professional values.

CONCLUSION

There is a lack of evidence in the literature to support the premise that professional values develop in line with academic year progression; however, there is strong evidence to support the inclusion of explicit learning in undergraduate education that engages students in education specifically designed to explore and develop professional values.

Pakistani nursing students' perspectives of compassion: A convergent mixed methods study

BACKGROUND

There has been increased research on the conceptualization of compassion in nursing. Nursing institutions expect educators to foster student compassion. However, limited research exists on students' perceptions of compassion in nursing.

PURPOSE

To develop a comprehensive understanding of students' perspectives of compassion and compassionate care.

METHODS

A convergent mixed methods design. A purposive sample of 117 students completed an exploratory questionnaire and 17 participated in interviews. Descriptive analysis was used for quantitative data, thematic analysis for qualitative data, and joint displays for mixed analysis.

RESULTS

In total, 83% of students described compassion as "understanding and sharing patients' suffering" and 88% indicated that compassionate care entails "consciously trying to understand patients, their needs, and their suffering". The qualitative themes were, meanings of compassion and compassionate care, ways of developing and fostering compassion, antecedents of compassion and compassionate care, and compassion in practice.

CONCLUSIONS

Nursing students realized the importance of compassion for patients and nurses and identified different acts of compassionate care. The students noted the compassionate care entails deliberately caring for the "whole person" and can be fostered through practice, observations, and reflection.

Proposing a policy framework for nursing education for fostering compassion in nursing students: A critical review

AIMS

To propose a policy framework for nursing education to foster compassion in nursing students.

DESIGN

A critical review.

DATA SOURCES

Literature was searched in CINAHL, PubMed, Science Direct and Google Scholar and sources published from January 2008 - April 2018 were reviewed.

REVIEW METHODS

We screened abstracts and full-texts using specific inclusion criteria, developed summary tables for data extraction and synthesized data logically to develop the framework.

RESULTS

Twenty-nine sources were reviewed. Recognizing, accepting, and alleviating patients' suffering are direct indicators of compassionate care. Three policy directions were identified: ensure the nursing curriculum has an appropriate balance of teaching-learning strategies that target learning in the affective domain, directly promote the use of reflection and the development of reflective thinking in students as an approach to enhance excellence in clinical practice and integrate information and assess students' understanding and expression of compassion throughout the nursing curriculum.

CONCLUSION

Compassion is expressed when nurses authentically work to understand patients' suffering and become sensitive to their experiences. Future research should focus on developing strategies that align with the affective domain and use reflection to optimize nursing students' experiential learning.

IMPACT

Policies are needed for cultivating a compassionate care culture and for fostering students' compassion, but no guidelines exist for nursing institutions. Targeting the affective learning domain, facilitating reflection, and integrating compassionate care indicators in clinical learning experiences can be useful. Therefore, nursing institutions can use these findings to integrate and measure compassionate care in clinical and educational curricula to foster students' compassion.

New standards and framework will map out the future of nursing

Duncan Hamilton, Second Year Student, Adult Nursing, University of Surrey, shares what he thinks is missing from the Nursing and Midwifery Council's draft Standards of Proficiency and Education Framework.