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Nursing Student Moral Development in Preceptorship: Socializing for Authentic Caring Engagement in Nursing Practice

  • Author / Creator
    Vihos, Jill Ellen
  • Moral behaviour is the foundation of civil societies, and actions that impart goodness are necessary for the welfare of others and the evolution of humanity. In nursing education, preceptorship is a teaching/learning approach whereby learners are individually assigned to staff nurses in the clinical practice setting, to promote the socialization of nursing students into the nursing profession, and the acquisition of professional values and identity (Billay & Myrick, 2008; Myrick, Yonge, & Billay, 2010). The purpose of this grounded theory study was to explore the process of nursing student moral development in clinical preceptorship. The sample consisted of undergraduate nursing students, registered nurse preceptors, and faculty members from a large university in Western Canada. The results of this study indicate that nursing student moral development in preceptorship is shaped by a socialization process, whereby preceptors and faculty members engage students in constructing identity, exploring the experience of patients, creating meaning of practice encounters, becoming social agents, and reconciling moral issues in practice. As students navigate their way through these processes, they adopt caring behaviours that shape their nursing practices. The implications of this study for nursing education and preceptorship include: promoting pedagogical strategies to stimulate personal exploration of nursing and moral identity; recognizing the significance of care theory and an ethos of care; creating safe spaces in nursing programs to promote discussion of personal experiences, with the intent to facilitate reflection, appreciation of diverse perspectives, values clarification, creating meaning, and reconciling moral issues; facilitating peer support in practice; and identifying the significance of moral emotions and personal ways of knowing as processes both for creating meaning from experiences, and acting as catalysts for action in practice.

  • Subjects / Keywords
  • Graduation date
    Spring 2015
  • Type of Item
    Thesis
  • Degree
    Doctor of Philosophy
  • DOI
    https://doi.org/10.7939/R3XG9FH9X
  • License
    This thesis is made available by the University of Alberta Libraries with permission of the copyright owner solely for non-commercial purposes. This thesis, or any portion thereof, may not otherwise be copied or reproduced without the written consent of the copyright owner, except to the extent permitted by Canadian copyright law.
  • Language
    English
  • Institution
    University of Alberta
  • Degree level
    Doctoral
  • Department
  • Supervisor / co-supervisor and their department(s)
  • Examining committee members and their departments
    • Dr. Gweneth Doane PhD, RN, Faculty of Nursing University of Victoria
    • Dr. Sandra Davidson PhD, RN, Faculty of Nursing University of Alberta
    • Dr. Randall Wimmer EdD, Faculty of Education University of Alberta
    • Dr. Olive Yonge PhD, RN, Faculty of Nursing University of Alberta
    • Dr. Derek Sellman PhD, RN Faculty of Nursing University of Alberta
    • Dr. Pauline Paul PhD RN, Faculty of Nursing University of Alberta