Nursing students’ socialisation to emotion management during early clinical placement experiences: A qualitative study

Abstract

Aims and objectives To explore nursing students’ subjective experience of emotions during first‐year clinical placements, strategies used to manage their emotions and socialisation to emotion management. Background Emotion regulation is a key source of stress for early career and student nurses. Clinical placement experiences can elicit strong emotions in nursing students; however, they may be unprepared for the challenge of regulating their emotions in real‐world practice. How nursing students learn to manage their emotions in the clinical setting, whether they receive support for this, and how they are socialised to manage their emotions during placements are not well known. Design An exploratory qualitative study. Methods Semi‐structured interviews (n = 19) were conducted with first‐year nursing students, exploring their experiences of emotion management during clinical placement. Interview transcripts were analysed using conventional qualitative content analysis. Reporting adheres to the COREQ Checklist. Results Interactions with patients and staff often elicited negative feelings. Structured guidance for emotion management by supervising staff was scarce. Students used informal self‐reflection and interpretation to guide emotion management. Conclusions In the absence of strategic socialisation and formal support for effective emotion management, students used emotional labour strategies that can negatively impact on well‐being. A focus on adequately preparing nursing students for emotion work is a necessary component of classroom and clinical learning environments. Structured debriefing during clinical placements may provide a relevant context to discuss emotions arising during clinical work and to learn emotion management strategies. Relevance to clinical practice Emotional competence, a fundamental ability for registered nurses and students, supports personal health maintenance and strengthens professional practice. Students are exposed to clinical environments and interpersonal encounters that evoke strong emotions. They need situated learning strategies and formal support to develop knowledge and strengthen capability for emotion management, as this is essential for promoting professional development and patient care.

Supplementing Clinical Practice in Nursing Homes With Simulation Training: A Qualitative Study of Nursing Students’ Experiences

“…Conversely, a lack of role models may foster unsafe clinical practices (Killam et al., 2013) and feelings of being an outsider (Jonsén et al., 2013; Kern et al., 2014). Our findings support the concept of belonging as a need influencing the students’ learning, motivation and confidence (Grobecker, 2016; McCloughen et al., 2020). In addition, the findings indicate that the supplementary simulation training may have enhanced students´ ability to handle experiences of limited supervision and feelings of being alone at the nursing homes by adding to their sense of social integration.…”

“…The feeling of competence is a sense of confidence and effectiveness in one’s action, not an attained skill or capability (Deci & Ryan, 2002). When students are introduced to difficult and demanding tasks or asked challenging questions, supervisors need to recognise students’ need to feel competent and to provide appropriate support and feedback (Arkan et al., 2018; McCloughen et al., 2020; Niemiec & Ryan, 2009). The students in the current study reported that the simulation training was crucial for them to develop knowledge and confidence in practice.…”

What Helps, What Hinders? Undergraduate Nursing Students’ Perceptions of Clinical Placements Based on a Thematic Synthesis of Literature

“…The characteristics of included studies are presented in Table 1. The studies examined all levels of course seniority: novice students (year 1, n = 6 studies) (Alshahrani et al, 2018;Cooper et al, 2015;Jonsén et al, 2013;McCloughen et al, 2020;Moquin et al, 2018;Thomas et al, 2015); second-year (Arkan et al, 2018) and third-or fourth-year students (n = 7 studies) (Bawadi et al, 2019;Birks et al, 2017;Ching et al, 2020;Jarvelainen et al, 2018;Kern et al, 2014;Lopez et al, 2018;van Der Riet et al, 2018). Some examined dual and multiple year groups (Brynildsen et al, 2014;Courtney-Pratt et al, 2018;George et al, 2020;Walker et al, 2014), or the year was not specified (Hurley et al, 2020;Jack et al, 2018;Jamshidi et al, 2016;Lea et al, 2015;MacDonald et al, 2016;Miller-Rosser et al, 2019;O'Mara et al, 2014;van Giersbergen et al, 2016;Vatansever & Akansel, 2016).…”

“…In units with a low staffing ratio, there may be no supervisor for a student, particularly affecting a beginner student who would need direction ( Arkan et al, 2018 ; McCloughen et al, 2020 ). There may be a lack of sequence practice to skill level with students expected to carry out nursing duties beyond their scope of practice ( Arkan et al, 2018 ; Lopez et al, 2018 ), undermining their confidence.…”

‘We too find it difficult’: A consideration of site-based Holocaust education as emotional labour

“…Since responsibility for curriculum has subsequently been devolved to the individual nations of the UK, it remains compulsory only in England (and even there, only in schools whose funding arrangements require them to follow the National Curriculum). Over the last thirty years, a number of other organisations have been established to support teaching and learning about the Holocaust in the UK, such as the Anne Frank Trust (1991), the the concept to fields as diverse as nursing (McCloughen et al, 2020), journalism (Knight, 2020), careers education (Olry-Louis, 2018) and librarianship (Jan and Anwar, 2018). Bodenheimer and Shuster (2020: 63) are among those who have advocated that the teaching profession should be included, since in their opinion it is one that 'requires employees to engage in emotional labour' -a view which corresponds with Olson et al's (2019: 130) previous assertion that 'teaching is imbued with emotions', as well as Kitching's (2009: 144) belief that 'the desire to teach [is] intrinsically emotional'.…”