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Learning from the world of mental health care: nursing students' narratives
Author(s) -
KOSKINEN L.,
MIKKONEN I.,
JOKINEN P.
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
journal of psychiatric and mental health nursing
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.69
H-Index - 63
eISSN - 1365-2850
pISSN - 1351-0126
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2850.2011.01711.x
Subject(s) - narrative , active listening , mental health , psychology , nursing , narrative inquiry , nurse education , coping (psychology) , mental health nursing , medicine , medical education , clinical psychology , psychiatry , psychotherapist , philosophy , linguistics
Accessible summary• This study was conducted among 20 Finnish nursing students and describes what it was like as a trainee in a mental health placement. During the practice, the students first selected events which were critical to them and then analysed these experiences by writing narratives that were one to two pages in length. These narratives were analysed and the findings were: 1 Initially, when commencing the practice at the unit, the students had prejudices and negative attitudes towards mental illnesses and psychiatric settings, but their opinions gradually changed. 2 This change took place because the students were actively exposed to challenging and complicated care situations and patient encounters in which they had to face their own emotions and test coping skills.• The findings were verified through three consistent learning storylines: self‐awareness and self‐esteem, the nurse–patient relationship and mental health care methods. These three storylines characterized what students learned during the mental health placement: their self‐awareness and self‐esteem increased, they deepened interpersonal skills and learned new nursing methods. Our findings have implications for the teacher role, mentoring and school placement collaboration within nursing education. It seems that favourable learning results take place during the placement, if nursing students have a feeling of belonging, are engaged in encouraging mentorship, are actively involved in patient care and have space for reflection on feelings and emotions.Abstract This narrative study describes the substance of nursing students' learning in the area of mental health and their responses to the challenges of working in the psychiatric field. The data consisted of 39 critical incidents written by 20 Finnish second‐year nursing students during their 5‐week mental health placement. The narrative analysis method was used in the data analysis and the configuration of three consistent learning storylines: self‐awareness and self‐esteem, the nurse–patient relationship and mental health care methods. The three storylines characterized the essence of the students' learning and their responses to the challenges of the psychiatric field during the placement. The students were actively exposed to complicated care situations and patient encounters in which they had to face their own emotions and test coping skills. It seems that the critical incident technique stimulated students' narrative skills and possibly sensitized them for listening at the stories of their future patients.