A visual ethnographic study on nurse lecturers' enactment of compassionate care within the adult pre-registration nursing curriculum.

BACKGROUND

Nurse lecturers make a valuable contribution to developing the future nursing workforce. However, how this is nurtured within nurse education requires further exploration. There is limited research exploring the experiences of nurse lecturers providing compassionate care within the adult pre-registration nursing curriculum.

OBJECTIVES

This study explores how nurse lecturers enact compassionate care within the adult pre-registration nursing curriculum. To elicit shared patterns of behaviours and use creative methods to promote a critical dialogue.

METHOD

A visual ethnographic approach was used to explore nurse lecturers' experiences at a University in England. Using purposive sampling, nine auto-driven photo-elicitation interviews took place, and five participants attended a focus group to develop individual and collaborative concept maps. A thematic approach to data analysis was employed.

FINDINGS

Five themes were identified, illustrating compassionate care as the human condition involving appropriate behaviours and competent action. Compassionate care is threaded through the curriculum using different teaching and learning approaches, requiring a culture of shared human relationships. The combination of photographs, maps and descriptions provide a unique perspective of how nurse lecturers nurture and role model compassionate care to their students.

CONCLUSION

There are many ways compassionate care is experienced, enacted and enhanced by nurse lecturers within the adult pre-registration nurse curriculum. The five main themes act as a framework to guide nursing education and nursing practice. Future research should aim to understand better how compassionate care can be nurtured within different fields of nursing.