Previous caring experience was not associated with higher emotional intelligence. Mindfulness training was associated with higher 'ability' emotional intelligence. Implications for recruitment, retention and further research are explored.

Acute psychiatric inpatient care forms an integral part of mental health services. Few studies have focussed on the patient experience of acute care. Research into patient experience is increasingly important to policy and service development processes. Knowledge of patient experiences facilitates the development of nursing practice. The aim of the study was to gain insight into the experience of being a patient on an acute inpatient psychiatric ward. Thirteen participants were recruited from the acute ward. Unstructured interviews were used to gather narrative data of their experiences. Holistic analysis of the narratives was informed by Gee's socio-linguistic theories that meaning is linked to narrative structure. Reading of the holistic analyses yielded themes of help, safety and power running across the participants' experiences. The patient experience was characterized by dissonance between expectation and experience, the search for a nurse-patient relationship and the development of strategies to cope with being on the acute ward. This paper focuses on the theme of 'Help' where participants describe their expectation that they will receive help through the development of relationships with the nurses, and their experience of the barriers to this. In response, participants developed strategies to support each other.

Nurses need to be sensitive to the possibility that patients feel unsafe in the absence of obvious threat. Institutional structures that challenge patients' sense of safety must be examined.

Accessible summary Digital stories provide a creative way for people to tell their stories using an amalgamation of voice, image and music, and can be used to engage nurses with others' experiences in the classroom setting. Seven people with early‐stage dementia and one carer participated in making their own stories during a digital storytelling workshop. These participants experienced particular and varied challenges relating to telling a story and engaging with the technical process of digital storytelling. They were supported in overcoming these challenges through person‐centred relationships with facilitators, allowing them to negotiate the help required. During the workshop a number of positive changes were observed in the participants: increased confidence, improved speech, a sense of purpose and increased connection. Abstract Care and compassion are key features of the NHS Constitution. Recent reports have identified a lack of compassion in the care and treatment of older people. Nurses draw on aesthetic knowledge, developed through engagement with the experience of others, when providing compassionate care. Patient Voices reflective digital stories are used in healthcare education to facilitate student engagement with the patient experience. Digital stories were made with seven people with early‐stage dementia as part of a learning package for student nurses. In this paper the authors reflect on their experience and observations from facilitating the 4‐day digital story‐making workshop. Social theories of dementia provide a theoretical framework for understanding these reflections. Despite considerable challenges in developing a story, and anxiety about using the technology, reading and speaking, all participants engaged in creating their own digital stories. Positive changes in the participants' interactions were observed. These improvements appeared to be the product of the person‐centred facilitation and the creative process which supported self‐expression and a sense of identity. Nurses working in this way could facilitate ability of the person with dementia to participate in their care, and improve their sense of well‐being by supporting self‐expression.

Aims and objectives To explore how newly qualified nurses’ work experiences are constructed through the interplay between self, workplace and home‐life influencing their retention. Background Nurses are critical to achieving the goal of universal health coverage. However, shortages of nursing staff are endemic. Of particular concern, newly qualified nurses are more likely to leave the nursing workforce. The point of transition to working as a newly qualified nurse is a time of vulnerability. Most studies attempt to discover why nurses leave. This study uses the concept of job embeddedness to examine the experience of this transition and first two years of practice to understand what might help newly qualified nurses stay. Design Qualitative approach using semi‐structured telephone interviews. Methods Self‐selecting sample of nurses (n = 23) who participated 1‐year (n = 12) and 2 years (n = 11) post‐qualification. Participants were part of a larger longitudinal cohort (n = 867) study which has followed them since September 2013 when they entered nurse education in two Scottish universities. Thematic analysis was used to understand the interplay between organisation/workplace and the individual. Results Three themes were developed: transition shock; workplace factors and work/life balance. Two further subthemes were developed: experience of support and belonging; and feeling unsupported and alienated. Eight participants had changed job or left, and two were looking to leave nursing. Conclusion This study highlights how the experience of transition shock can be positively or negatively impacted by the workplace environment, and how in turn this impacts the home environment. Ultimately, this impacts retention of newly qualified nurses. Relevance to clinical practice Having adequate support resources, such as staffing, supportive team morale, professional development and family‐friendly work environment, can create a work environment where they feel the purpose and meaningfulness of working as a nurse. This ‘job embeddedness’ can potentially enhance nurse retention. Reporting follows the COREQ checklist.