Caring for elderly patients : a longitudinal study of Swedish nursing students' narratives

• Studied how Swedish nursing students developed their perceptions of caring for older adults during their 3 years in nursing education. Interviews were audiotaped at the end of each academic year with 27 students from three colleges of nursing. In addition, 26 of these students wrote diaries during the clinical part of the course, in the second and third years. The interviews and diaries were analyzed using the phenomenological hermeneutic method, which is based on the idea that an interpretation of people's narrated, lived experiences is focused on the utterance meaning (Ricoeur, 1976). Four themes of caring emerged: respect for individual patients, responsibility for patients' well-being, sympathy with patients, and empathy with patients. Three themes emerged that were connected with impediments to caring: students' vulnerability, frustration and powerlessness in difficult situations, and ethically difficult situations. Findings revealed a development in the students' perceptions of caring as they proceeded through their education, moving from a naive, caring perspective, via a second-year stage of deeper relationships with patients, into a third-year organizational perspective, where they used their gained knowledge and experiences in taking responsibility for providing optimum care. Two students' narratives are used to illustrate the interpretations.

Subject headings

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Annan samhällsvetenskap -- Övrig annan samhällsvetenskap (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Other Social Sciences -- Other Social Sciences not elsewhere specified (hsv//eng)

Keyword

Older people and ageing

Äldre och åldrande

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

art (subject category)