The hidden curriculum: Undergraduate nursing students’ perspectives of socialization and professionalism

Abstract

Background and aim: Nursing students form a professional identity from their core values, role models, and past experiences, and these factors contribute to the development of their professional identity. The hidden curriculum, a set of ethics and values learned within a clinical setting, may be part of developing a professional identity. Nursing students will develop a professional identity throughout school; however, their identity might be challenged as they attempt to balance their core values with behaviors learned through the hidden curriculum. The purpose of this project was to educate students on the hidden curriculum in the development of their professional identity. Materials and methods: A sample of 112 senior nursing students was recruited from a northeastern university in the United States for this study. Pre–post survey design was used, and an educational session was administered prior to the post-survey. Descriptive statistics and a valid percentage were used to describe the data within the surveys. Ethical consideration: Study was approved by the author’s University Institutional Review Board. Findings: A significant finding was for advocacy as students would speak up if witnessing inappropriate behavior toward patients or families with a mean score increase from 2.50 (pre-survey) to 1.45 (post-survey). Also, over 95% ( n = 106) found the educational session beneficial as they learned they had the ability to advocate and speak up for their patients. Conclusion: Students were able to use their core values and advocate for their patients and families which allows for safer patient care.

Facilitators of professional socialisation of learners in the clinical learning areas: A qualitative systematic review

“…To enhance professional socialisation, professional nurses should act as exemplary role models to learners. Role modelling is an ‘unintentional act of not only observing the behaviours of others but also interacting with other healthcare professionals’ (Kelly 2019 ). In Iran, learners had experiences where they had negative interpersonal relationships with clinical staff during placement.…”

Nursing students' perspectives on observed weight bias in healthcare settings: A qualitative study

“…Additionally, not only nurses but all HCPs are serving as professional role models and are expected to demonstrate and emulate specific professional behaviors worthy of replication 19,20 . Role models facilitate student learning beyond the classroom to mold and shape ethical values and professional identity 15,21 …”

“…Nursing students embark upon their nursing education, entering a program of study with preset core values instilled at a young age 13 . During their nursing education, students initially learn the profession's esteemed ethical standards predominantly within a traditional classroom format, and progressively develop their professional identity through didactic learning 14,15 . As students embark upon their clinical rotations, they begin to learn from watching others in action.…”

“…Role models foster student learning of the nursing profession and its standards and contribute to the development of the nursing student's ethical value system 21 . Ideally, observation, imitation, and emulation of role models' behaviors should contribute positively to the nursing student's development of their professional identity 15 . However, in some circumstances, institutional principles, stressors, cultural and social norms, and biases may contribute to poor role modeling experiences 22 .…”

Ethikbildung in der Pflege – strukturelle Besonderheiten und didaktische Implikationen der Pflegeausbildung

“…Der Lernort Praxis mit seinem berufspädagogischen Bildungspersonal und den ihm eigenen beruflichen Sozialisationsprozessen ist von herausgehobener Relevanz für die Entwicklung pflegeberuflicher Handlungskompetenz und somit für den systematischen Aufbau einer professionellen Ethikkompetenz, ethisch-praktischer Performanz und eines handlungswirksamen beruflichen Ethos seitens der Lernenden (Koskinen et al 2019;Kelly 2020;Poikkeus et al 2018Poikkeus et al , 2020Koharchik et al 2017). Obwohl der Einfluss des Lernorts Praxis, einschließlich all seiner arbeitswie bildungsbezogenen Strukturen, Prozesse und Programme für die Ausbildungsqualität in all ihren Facetten von überragender Bedeutung ist, kommt ihm daran gemessen nach wie vor -trotz des im PflBG verankerten zeitlichen Ausbaus der berufspädagogischen Zusatzqualifikation von Praxisanleitenden auf 300 h und der Definition verbindlicher zeitlicher Anleitungsbudgets -zu wenig Aufmerksamkeit zu (Lehmeyer und Riedel 2019Dielmann et al 2020 Ethikbildung am Lernort Praxis ist -anders als am Lernort Theorie -nicht handlungsentlastet.…”