Student articulation of a nursing philosophical statement: an assignment to enhance critical thinking skills and promote learning

Nursing Students' Perceptions of Nursing Metaparadigms: A Phenomenological Study

BACKGROUND

The paradigm is a vital concept steering the development of a scientific discipline. Paradigms that shape the education, research, and practice steps of a discipline are defined as metaparadigms.

PURPOSE

The purpose of this study was to explore the perception of nursing students regarding metaparadigms in nursing at Akdeniz University in Antalya, Turkey.

METHODS

This was designed as a descriptive phenomenological study, and data were collected from 13 fourth-year students who were chosen via a purposeful sampling method and interviewed face-to-face using a semistructured format. Data were analyzed using the data analysis steps of Giorgi, who is an expert in descriptive phenomenological studies.

RESULTS

Most of the participants in this study associated nursing with humanism. Some of the participants stated that a fundamental building block of the nursing profession is conscience, whereas others stated that nursing is a way to touch people's lives and is now regarded as a professional practice. It has been reported that students have difficulties identifying metaparadigms in nursing and that they believe that human beings have the potential to widen their horizons with wisdom and social skills. According to the participants, the health metaparadigm refers to the harmony between human beings and their environment and to the autonomy of the individual. Moreover, the participants emphasized the well-being of individuals.

CONCLUSIONS/IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE

The participants in this study characterized humans with well-being, transcendence, adaptation and interaction skills with their environment, and harmony beyond physiological mechanisms, which was considered to be promising for the perception of future nurses. It is recommended for nursing educators to enable their students to raise their professional awareness and to internalize professional values.

The importance of academic literacy for undergraduate nursing students and its relationship to future professional clinical practice: A systematic review

OBJECTIVES

This systematic review was designed to assess the importance of academic literacy for undergraduate nursing students and its relationship to future professional clinical practice. It aimed to explore the link between academic literacy and writing in an undergraduate nursing degree and the development of critical thinking skills for their future professional clinical practice.

DESIGN

A systematic review of qualitative studies and expert opinion publications.

DATA SOURCES

A systematic literature search was undertaken of the following databases: ERIC, PubMed, CINAHL, MEDLINE and Scopus. All papers reviewed were from 2000 to 2016 and were written in English.

REVIEW METHODS

We identified 981 studies and expert opinion papers from the selected databases. After reviewing key words and abstracts for the inclusion and exclusion criteria, 48 papers were selected for review. These were read and reread, with 22 papers, including one thesis, selected for quality appraisal. One paper was discarded due to the exclusion criteria.

RESULTS

Three major themes were evident from this study. First, students need assistance to develop tertiary level academic literacy skills when they commence their undergraduate nursing degree. Second, that teaching practices need to be consistent in both designing assessments and in giving feedback to students, in order to assist improvement of academic literacy skills. And finally, academic literacy can facilitate critical thinking when students are assessed using discipline specific genres that relate to their future professional nursing practice.

CONCLUSIONS

This review highlights the importance of critical thinking in clinical nursing practice and its strong relationship with academic writing skills. It has shown critical thinking is discipline specific and nursing students need to be taught discipline specific literacy genres in undergraduate nursing degrees. Nursing has a diverse educational and cultural mix of students, and educators should not assume academic literacy skills upon commencement of an undergraduate nursing programme.