Coetzee Minette
Division of Nursing and Midwifery, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Observatory, South Africa.
J Adv Nurs. 2004 Sep;47(6):639-48. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2648.2004.03152.x.
As undergraduate nursing students approach their paediatric placement, their anticipation ranges from keen expectation to anxious avoidance. This placement has been described as the most stressful in nursing programmes. While various nurse scholars have attempted to describe the practice and the theory of nursing, it has been the challenge of nurse teachers to weave the theory and practice of nursing together for their students. The nature of this learning is, however, still being explored.
This paper reports a study whose aim was to describe, and propose a theoretical understanding of, how nursing students learn to care for children.
In this grounded theory study, participants were drawn from four consecutive student groups in their third year of a Bachelor of Nursing programme. Data included participant observation, focus groups and student descriptions, from both personal reflective journals and narratives. The qualitative research paradigm and the interlaced, often simultaneous, roles of researcher and teacher defined the design and implementation of the study.
Data analysis confirmed the complex nature of students' learning to care. The relationships that they established with children and others (families, peers, clinical nurses and lecturers) whom they encountered emerged as key in their learning. The social process that was central to student learning was working out how to connect with a child in their care: puzzling out a connection. Each connection with a child contributed to the next and thus to the student's learning. Each connection also contributed to the student's resources, knowledge and experience base, adding to learning by further equipping the student for the next encounter with a child.
The resulting theory contributes towards understanding the complexity of learning to care for children. The relational nature of learning shown in this work can guide the structuring and evaluation of learning environments in child nursing programmes. The context of interpersonal relationships of students when learning to care for children provides evidence for re-examining how nurse teachers facilitate and evaluate student learning in child nursing programmes.
随着本科护理专业学生临近儿科实习，他们的预期从热切期待到焦虑回避不等。这次实习被描述为护理课程中压力最大的环节。尽管众多护理学者试图阐述护理实践与理论，但将护理理论与实践融合起来传授给学生一直是护理教师面临的挑战。然而，这种学习的本质仍在探索之中。
本文报告一项研究，其目的是描述并提出关于护理专业学生如何学习照顾儿童的理论理解。
在这项扎根理论研究中，参与者来自护理学学士学位课程三年级的四个连续学生群体。数据包括参与观察、焦点小组讨论以及来自个人反思日志和叙述的学生描述。定性研究范式以及研究者和教师相互交织、常常同时扮演的角色界定了该研究的设计与实施。
数据分析证实了学生学习照顾过程的复杂性。他们与所接触的儿童及其他人（家庭、同伴、临床护士和讲师）建立的关系成为其学习的关键。对学生学习至关重要的社会过程是弄清楚如何与他们所护理的儿童建立联系：琢磨出一种联系。与每个儿童的每次联系都促进了下一次联系，进而推动了学生的学习。每次联系也为学生的资源、知识和经验基础做出贡献，通过让学生为下一次与儿童接触做好更充分准备，进一步促进学习。
由此产生的理论有助于理解学习照顾儿童的复杂性。这项研究中所展现的学习的关系本质能够指导儿科护理课程学习环境的构建与评估。学生在学习照顾儿童时人际关系的背景为重新审视护理教师如何促进和评估儿科护理课程中的学生学习提供了依据。
