An exploration of the perceptions of caring held by students entering nursing programmes in the United Kingdom: A longitudinal qualitative study phase 1

Abstract

In a climate of intense international scrutiny of healthcare and nursing in particular, there is an urgent need to identify, foster and support a caring disposition in student nurses worldwide. Yet relatively little is known about how core nursing values are shaped during education programmes and this warrants further investigation. This longitudinal study commencing in Findings from Phase One show that neophyte student nurses are enthusiastic about wanting to care and aspire to making a difference to patients and their families. This research promises to offer contributions to the debate around what caring means and in particular how it is understood by student nurses. Findings will benefit educators and students which will ultimately impact positively on those in receipt of health care.

Perceived caring attributes and priorities of preregistration nursing students throughout a nursing curriculum underpinned by person‐centredness

“…As part of this, Francis acknowledged that nurses educated through higher education are not necessarily rendered incapable of delivering personal care, but that the profession is challenged in keeping such values central to practice. Indeed, this is confirmed in studies internationally (Arreciado Marañón & Isla Pera, ; Benson et al., ; Loke et al., ; Phillips et al., ). The results of this study confirm that students’ perceptions of caring were more developed through their education on this programme and that the practice they ranked highest as caring (at the end of year 3) was assisting a person with an activity of living .…”

“…Similarly, in its early stages, Phillips et al. 's () study also echoes these findings with first‐year nursing students in the UK. In contrast, Tuckett () determined that values held at the point of entry can be sustained to the point of registration, regardless of the socio‐cultural factors that students experience.…”

“…() and Phillips et al. (). In contrast, the results of this study confirm that a curriculum framed in person‐centredness enabled students to develop an increasing grasp of caring concepts over time and that these values were not diluted by the practice learning experience.…”

“…Person‐centredness has become a central concept for healthcare practice internationally (Edvardsson, Fetherstonhaugh, & Nay, ; McCance, Gribben, McCormack, & Laird, ), rendering it an approach to practice that must be considered by nurse educators, particularly when it can improve experiences of care and outcomes. Globally, nursing education has been challenged with developing and sustaining caring attributes in preregistration nursing student (Arreciado Marañón & Isla Pera, ; Loke, Lee, Lee, & Noor, ; Murphy, Jones, Edwards, James, & Mayer, ; Phillips et al., ), despite caring and person‐centredness being at the core of nursing practice. This study will consider how caring attributes, as a component of person‐centredness, are held or lost in a cohort of nursing students over the duration of a preregistration curriculum using the Person‐Centred Nursing Framework (PCNF) (McCormack & McCance, ) as its educational framework.…”

“…A more worrying trend is found in other studies. While most studies show that students largely begin their programmes with values and aspirations that represent caring, compassion and person‐centredness (Currie et al., ; Loke et al., ; Phillips et al., ), some studies show that these are diluted/reduced over time. Loke et al.…”