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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

    152 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
    Pages (from-to)390-404
    Number of pages15
    JournalNursing Ethics
    Volume26
    Issue number2
    Early online date20 Sept 2017
    DOIs
    Publication statusE-pub ahead of print - 20 Sept 2017

    Keywords

    • content analysis
    • dignity in care
    • ethics education
    • nursing students
    • photo-elicitation
    • topic areas

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