Dignity in nursing care: What does it mean to nursing students?

Rosemary Mullen, Angela Kydd, Anne Fleming, Laura McMillan

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

5 Citations (Scopus)
107 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Background:
Despite growing interest in the potential of nursing education to enhance dignity in nursing care, relatively little is known about what dignity means to nursing students.

Research question:
What meaning does dignity in nursing care have for nursing students?

Research design:
Photo-elicitation was embedded within a Nominal Group Technique and responses were analysed by qualitative and quantitative content analysis.

Participants and research context:
Participants were recruited from each year of a 3-year undergraduate preregistration adult nursing programme in Scotland. In total, 31 nursing students participated in the study.

Ethical considerations:
The study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the School of Health, Nursing and Midwifery, University of the West of Scotland.

Findings:
Participants articulated the meaning of dignity in nursing care in terms of the relationships and feelings involved. A total of 10 categories of meaning were identified.

Discussion:
The significance of the nature of the nurse–patient interaction to preserving dignity in nursing care is highlighted.

Conclusion:
Understanding the meaning of dignity for nursing students may help prepare future nurses more able to preserve dignity in nursing care.
Original languageEnglish
JournalNursing Ethics
Early online date20 Sept 2017
Publication statusE-pub ahead of print - 20 Sept 2017

Keywords

  • Dignity
  • Nursing Students

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