Student Nurses’ Caring With Awareness in a Higher Education Institution in South Africa

Abstract

In caring with awareness, the student nurse is able to be present in the moment, while being with the patient. Such student nurses treat patients holistically, considering the patient’s mind, body, and spirit. Purpose: To elicit the importance of caring with awareness in order to facilitate student nurses’ caring toward patients. Hypothesis: There is a positive relationship between student nurses acting with awareness and caring. Method: A quantitative, descriptive, correlational, and contextual research design with a purposive sampling method was used in the study. Respondents ( n = 56) were student nurses in their third- and fourth-year level of study. Data were collected by use of a self-administered questionnaire. Findings: There was a negative correlation between acting with awareness and caring. There was no difference in caring among third- and fourth-year students. Conclusion: Student nurses may be caring for patients, but it does not necessarily mean they act with awareness in caring. Awareness should be cultivated among student nurses for them to be present in caring and provide holistic caring.

Students’ self-perception of empathy in caring

“…Self-perception is an attribute that expresses how the student nurses view themselves in terms of possessing empathy. Self-perception is subjective but it is important because it enhances awareness in the caring encounter with a patient, and awareness enhances empathy (Matshaka, Downing & Poggenpoel 2020 :375). Self-perception enhances awareness because it requires student nurses to reflect and to self-introspect, which in turn leads to improvement.…”