Becoming a nurse: “it’s just who I am”

Abstract

In any research study, researchers situate themselves, either explicitly or implicitly, within a variety of frameworks when studying phenomena. From a research perspective, the study will be more robust if these frameworks and the accompanying assumptions are compatible with each other; otherwise, the project may lack coherence. Ricoeur offers a methodological perspective-that is, an interpretive theory as reflected in mimesis, which is congruent with his ontological theory of self identity (ipse-and idem-identity).To illustrate Ricoeur's frameworks when researching the self identities, I use examples from a research study in which I asked senior nursing students to explore their experience of becoming a nurse. I do not intend for this article to be a comprehensive research report, but I present it as an exemplar of how Ricoeur's ideas can guide other researchers studying self identity. I labelled my study a narrative research project and assumed that becoming a nurse means developing a self identity as a nurse. While self identity is often framed in psychological terms, Ricoeur uses a philosophical perspective when exploring this concept. I conclude the paper by suggesting (a) that Ricoeur can guide any project in which researchers ask participants to describe ''becoming'' a person with illness, sickness or disease, and (b) that educators of healthcare professional students can improve the educative experience by purposefully considering how a student's ontological self affects that student's practice.A s a nurse educator, I am always interested in exploring a nursing student's experience of becoming a nurse. Other people agree and have used sociological concepts-for example, professional socialisation and role socialisation-to explore nursing students quantitatively.

On Becoming a Therapist: A Narrative Inquiry of Personal–Professional Development and the Training of Clinical Psychologists

“…Ricoeur's narrative theory was adopted as a foundation to interpret the data (Flaming, ). People come to experience and understand their self‐identity through reflecting on and constructing their personal narratives from these past experiences, actions and motivations to act (Flaming, ).…”

“…Ricoeur's narrative theory was adopted as a foundation to interpret the data (Flaming, ). People come to experience and understand their self‐identity through reflecting on and constructing their personal narratives from these past experiences, actions and motivations to act (Flaming, ). This sense of self is experienced as a stable and constant “who they are,” and at the same time, can be experienced as having grown and transformed through such experiences like clinical training which becomes incorporated into their self‐identity (Flaming, ).…”

Holistic psychiatry without the whole self

“…It implies a process of personal formation and narrative. 19 In its stead is a model of the practitioner that offers the reassurance of standardised quality: the trainee, however, is at risk of being reduced to an aggregate of skills and competences that can be reliably measured, instrumentally shaped to purpose and appropriately placed on the workforce map.…”

“…Psychiatrists need to know something of the assumptions behind their own moral ontology to be able to map out their own personal and professional boundaries. 19 This will require devising new forms of the educative reflective process, perhaps via a long-term formative relationship with a peer group or mentor. Currently, trainees have to present clinical material in case-based discussion groups.…”

‘The Medical’ and ‘Health’ in a Critical Medical Humanities

“…only fails to recognise much of the work published and presented in medical humanities arenas (see for example Davis 2005;Flaming 2005;Nestel 1998), but more worryingly, completely bypasses a critical engagement with different understandings of what is meant by the key concepts of "the medical" and of "health", a critical engagement that has been characteristic of research within the social sciences for at least two decades.…”