Managers’ responsibility to support caring and learning in clinical education units

Abstract

Background: Managers in clinical education units (CEUs) have the responsibility to facilitate evidence-based environments for both caring and learning. Promoting such environments might be challenging in times of financial constraints and organisation changes. Objective: The purpose of this study was to describe how managers experience their responsibility to support the caring and learning environments in CEUs. Methods: The study method followed the principles of Reflective Lifeworld Research (RLR) grounded in a phenomenological approach. The study was conducted at a hospital in Southern Sweden. Ten first-and second-line managers responsible for CEUs were interviewed. The interviews were conducted as reflective dialogues using an open, and bridled approach. Results: The results show that clinical education unit managers regard the responsibility to support caring and learning environments as a challenging experience, elucidated in three themes: (1) to have or to take responsibility; (2) cooperation that supports and challenges; and (3) bringing it all together -a daily struggle. Conclusions: In conclusion, the managers of CEUs need to be aware of the importance of common theoretical grounds for caring and learning. Caring and learning are more likely to be intertwined when responsibility is taken, when collaboration between actors is characterised by respect and when an awareness of the importance of reflection is present. Awareness of the importance of creating opportunities for reflection and mutual collaboration among the different actors involved could lead to improvements in nursing education and, therefore, improved patient care.

“Seeing the patient as a human is their priority” – Patients’ experiences of being cared for by pairs of student nurses

“…In this study, the patients' positive responses to the pairs of students and their learning might be a consequence of the well-established co-operation between the university and the clinical settings. The great value of this kind of partnership is further confirmed by Henderson et al [40] and Eskilsson et al [10] Further exploration of the patients' experiences of being cared for by students in this type of learning model and in comparison with other forms of clinical practice in future research could prove valuable for informing the development of clinical studies for nurses.…”

“…[3][4][5][6][7][8] Moreover, the environment of a DEU stimulates partnerships between academic and clinical organizations. [9,10] DEUs based on a lifeworld theoretical ground have also been developed [11] and in these the patients' unique perspective and narrative is taken as the fundament for caring. [1,12] A parallel development is the Developing and Learning Care Unit (DLCU), which is characterized by the student nurses being supervised in pairs.…”

Intertwining of caring and learning in care practices supported by a didactic approach

“…An analysis of the outcomes of the studies mentioned above (Andersson, 2015;Eskilsson et al 2014Eskilsson et al , 2015aEskilsson et al , 2015bEskilsson et al , 2017 has been performed in the present study. This analysis is based on a Reflective Lifeworld Research (RLR) approach which is grounded in a lifeworld-oriented phenomenology (Husserl, 1973(Husserl, , 1978 that focuses on meaning, openness and a reflective attitude.…”

“…Regarding ethical considerations, the research project was reviewed and approved by the Regional Ethical Review Board of Gothenburg (2011, No 315-11;2010, No 358-10), and it also followed the principles prescribed in World Medical Association Declaration of Helsinki (2013). The research project consisted of five separate studies, four of which were articles (Eskilsson et al, 2014(Eskilsson et al, , 2015a(Eskilsson et al, , 2015b(Eskilsson et al, , 2017, and one which was a monography (Andersson, 2015). The two DEUs have been developed by didactic research, which is the study of learning support in clinical practice (Ekebergh, 2014;Holst & Hörberg, 2012;Lindahl et al, 2009).…”

“…The interaction between caring and learning has been investigated in two different educational wards: one for psychiatric care and one for orthopedic care. The aim was to create an awareness of caring and learning as intertwined phenomena and when and how they converge in meetings between students and patients (Andersson, 2015;Eskilsson et al 2014Eskilsson et al , 2015aEskilsson et al , 2015bEskilsson et al , 2017. This paper is based on the outcomes of these two studies.…”