A comparison of the reported early experiences of student nurses with those of a group of people outside the helping professions

Abstract

In order to investigate the psychodynamic concepts of "reparation' and "compulsive caring' as possible motivations for a career in nursing, a questionnaire was given to two groups of respondents, 115 nursing students and 97 people not involved in any of the helping professions. Both groups were asked whether or not they had experienced specific, potentially distressing events and circumstances in their childhood and teenage years. The null hypothesis was that there would be no statistically significant differences between the two groups on frequency of affirmative responses to these questions. Chi-square tests were used to determine the differential frequency of responses. The nursing students had a higher percentage of affirmative responses to 11 of the 14 questions, and statistically significant differences were identified. The nursing students had a significantly greater total number of recollected adverse experiences, and there was a significantly greater number of nursing students recollecting at least one. Significance on this result was maintained when males and females were analysed separately and together, with a higher level of significance reached for males than for females. Statistically significant differences between the two groups on their responses to specific questions were greatest for the questions about separations from mother or main carer and about the occurrence of major difficulties not covered in other questions. There is strong evidence for a rejection of the null hypothesis, the implications of which are discussed.

Pre‐registration diploma students: a quantitative study of entry characteristics and course outcomes

“…Motivation to nurse has been discussed as a predictive variable and selection criterion but Land (1993) found a qualitative difference between those who ‘always wanted to nurse’, which could be constructed as a ‘need to be needed’, and those who had a genuinely realistic view of nursing. The ‘need to be needed’ argument was reported in a study by Phillips (1997), whose research suggested that nursing students had a greater number of recollected adverse life experiences compared with a comparable group of students outside the helping professions. These early experiences could influence decisions to seek a career within a perceived therapeutic community, but were likely to be a predictive factor in occupational stress.…”

The shackles of abuse: unprepared to work at the edges of reason

“…(1998) explored the prevalence of unwanted sexual experiences reported by student nurses and found that of a cohort of 109 second year nursing students nearly 1 in 2 (47.6%) reported some form of unwanted sexual experience, with 1 in 8 women and 1 in 10 men reporting someone having sexual intercourse with them against their will. Rew & Christian (1993) when surveying 87 nursing students found 47% of women and 38% of men had experienced one or more unwanted sexual experience in childhood, whilst in a comparative study undertaken by Phillips (1997), between a group of student nurses ( n = 115) and people outside the helping profession ( n = 97), 10 of the nurses as opposed to 2 of the control group recalled experiences of sexual abuse. Interestingly a study carried out in the US (Elliot & Guy 1993) investigated the extent of childhood trauma among female mental health professionals working as therapists compared with women working in other professions and concluded that mental health professionals were no more likely to correctly identify themselves as sexually abused than non‐mental health professionals.…”

“…The crux of psychodynamic theory is that the development of a sense of self is mediated by our early childhood experiences (Phillips 1997), and as a minimum Gallop & O’Brien (2003) believe that mental health nurses need to understand how we become who we are and how our own history and that of the clients are re‐enacted and modified within therapeutic interactions. It is the practitioner's responsibility to acknowledge the complexity of the human experience, and to navigate the therapeutic relationship.…”

“…Mental health nurses frequently face situations that elicit intense emotional arousal and those nurses whose own early experiences have impeded the development of the capacity to contain and manage such feeling may be overwhelmed by the traumatic experiences presented by their patients (Phillips 1997). In clearly identifying the need for mental health nurses to address issues of sexual abuse, it may appear we are advocating that they give up their familiar secure environment and perhaps in so doing, cast themselves into the darkness of an organizational, professional and/or personal abyss.…”

“…Providers of mental health care and educational institutions need to be cognizance of the commitment they need to make in CSA being more effectively addressed by mental health nurses. In order for mental health nurses to engage in the exploration of CSA with their patients they should be provided with the opportunities to address any unresolved personal issues in a safe environment (Phillips 1997; Hardman et al . 1998).…”