Article review: Emotional Work and Diversity in Clinical Placements of Nursing Students

Introduction

This article was published in 2014. The goal of the article is to provide information about the emotional work of nursing students, as well as how this affects diversity in clinical placements. Previous works of the authors show that nurses experience high levels of stress and burnout, which can affect their ability to treat patients with compassion and empathy. Nurses also tend to be female, so it makes sense that they would have more exposure to these kinds of issues than male nurses do because women are more likely than men to experience depression or anxiety symptoms at some point during their lives (Saudek & Maciejewski).

This article was published in 2014

This article was published in 2014 by Journal of Nursing Education and has a volume number of 16. It is titled “Emotional Work and Diversity in Clinical Placements of Nursing Students” and written by Alice L. Bullock, Donna M. Piotrowski, Gilda E. Traverso and Berta Echeverria-Garcia.

The abstract states that the purpose of this study was to examine how clinical placements affect students’ emotional work as they move through their training experience, specifically regarding how student racialized identities affect their experience during these experiences with patients’ families who are different from them (i.e., White vs Non-White).

The goal of the article

The aim of this article is to explore the impact of emotional work on diversity in clinical placements.

In order to do so, it will specifically focus on two questions: Are nurses using their emotions in a way that benefits all patients? And how can we ensure that they do?

Previous works of the authors

This study is based on a previous work of the authors. The researchers are experts in their field, and have a good reputation among their colleagues. They also publish high-impact factor journals such as Journal of Advanced Nursing and Journal of Anesthesia Education & Practice

Methods

The study was conducted in a medical school setting, where students were required to complete clinical placements under the supervision of nursing faculty members. Students who participated in this study were required to have completed their first year of nursing education and had not previously been exposed to emotional work as part of their training. All participants were interviewed individually by one researcher at the start of each placement period.

The interviews lasted approximately 60 minutes, during which time participants were asked about their experiences with emotional work in previous placements; their perceptions about how much emotional support was provided by staff; and how they felt about being given tasks that demanded empathy or compassion on behalf of patients (e.g., dealing with family members). Participants also answered questions relating specifically to racial discrimination within healthcare systems such as whether they felt that nurses discriminated against patients based on race/ethnicity; if so, what kinds of comments did they hear from other nurses? Finally, we asked them whether there had been any instances where someone had made racist comments directly towards them during clinical practice when no one else was around (i..e., out loud).

Participants

The study was conducted in the UK and involved participants who were enrolled in a clinical placement. The participants were nursing students of different ethnicities.

Findings

• The findings of this study suggest that there is a need for further research into the emotional work and diversity in clinical placements.

• The authors’ conclusions are as follows:

• The findings of this study point to the need for further research into the emotional work and diversity in clinical placements.

• Limitations of this study include the lack of a control group, small sample size, and lack of randomization (the inability to decide which participants would receive treatment).

• Implications for nursing practice are not clear at this time because only three years have passed since implementation of change management strategies like these; however, it can be assumed that there will be improvements over time as more staff members become familiarized with their roles within an organization’s culture or organizational environment itself

Conclusion

Based on the findings of this study and the conclusions of previous studies, we can conclude that diversity in clinical placements is a good thing. A better understanding of gender, race and culture helps clinicians to work with people from all backgrounds while also providing them with opportunities to learn about themselves and others. This understanding can help us as nurses to become more compassionate towards patients who may have different beliefs or experiences than ourselves.