RESUMEN
BACKGROUND: Previous research mainly focuses on how to support nursing students in caring for the patient and on educators' views of students' development as professional caring nurses. Against this background, it is important to further investigate nursing students' perspectives on what it means to become a professional caring nurse. RESEARCH AIM: This qualitative systematic review study aims to identify and synthesize nursing students' perceptions on the meaning of becoming a caring nurse. RESEARCH DESIGN AND DATA SOURCES: Systematic data searches were conducted by using the electronic databases MEDLINE (Ovid), CINAHL (EBSCO), Academic Search Premiere (EBSCO), and Philosopher`s Index. In total, 13 studies met the inclusion and quality criteria. The articles were analyzed by a systematic review and a thematic synthesis according to Thomas and Harden. ETHICAL CONSIDERATION: The study followed good ethical practice guidelines outlined in the Northern Nurses' Federation. FINDINGS: The analysis resulted in eight descriptive themes and finally in three analytical themes: Becoming is to get in touch with one's inner ethic or ethos, Becoming is a movement between courage, understanding, and being touched, and Becoming is strengthened through caring role models and a learning culture. CONCLUSIONS: Becoming a professional caring nurse is seen as an ongoing movement toward a deeper understanding of oneself and one's being and bearing. This movement is enabled when nursing students have a sense of self-awareness, courage to stand in their vulnerability, and reflect on their responsibility, caring attitude, and inner values and ethics. The force of becoming is that the attention is directed beyond self to care for and feel empathy for others in a caring manner. Becoming is released through a caring relationship, external confirmation, and good role models. A lack of external support in the movement can potentially prevent the students from becoming a professional caring nurse.
RESUMEN
BACKGROUND: Reflection is essential for students to learn and understand caring, their formation as human and caring beings, and their ability to meet patients in a caring way. Consequently, to facilitate nurse students' development into professionals, learning support is needed where the focus is on understanding caring and becoming caring nurses. AIM AND RESEARCH QUESTIONS: The exploratory study aim is to gain knowledge of the meaning of reflection in first-term nursing education, and how reflection grounded in caring theory can deepen the students' understanding of caring and their professional formation of becoming a caring nurse. METHOD: Data consisted of individual written reflections and were collected from 64 nursing students from Norway, who had completed their instruction in caring theories and participated in four reflection groups where they reflected on caring and becoming a caring nurse. A thematic analysis was used. FINDINGS: The results are based on the three main themes, Reflection provides an understanding of caring by developing a language for caring; Reflection provides an understanding of seeing the person behind the illness; and Reflection contributes to increased self-understanding and awareness of oneself as a caring nurse. CONCLUSIONS: Instruction in caring theories and participation in reflection groups, with reflection grounded in caring theory, has a key function in facilitating students' development of a language for caring in nursing and appropriation of caring theory. The appropriation of caring theory provides a foundation for the nurse students to see themselves within a broader perspective and is important for mutual support in the professional formation of becoming a caring nurse. The expected outcome of such integration is a nursing curriculum that progressively supports the development of nursing students professionally and personally in the formation of becoming a caring nurses.