Student nurses' perceptions of dignity in the care of older people

Abstract

Background: Dignity lies at the heart of nursing practice, yet evidence suggests that healthcare professionals feel inadequately prepared to deal with challenges around delivering dignity in care and struggle to understand what it means to 'respect human dignity'.  Objectives: To examine the factors that student nurses considered promote and inhibit the practice of dignity in the care of older adults.  Design: Mixed-methods research design using a questionnaire survey and focus groups.  Participants: Student nurses at two university campuses in Scotland who completed an online questionnaire (n=111; response rate 37%) and participated in focus groups (n=35).  Results: Students most frequently equated dignity in care with being heard, involvement in decision-making, and ensuring privacy. Four inter-related factors were found to inhibit dignity in care, including environmental, organisational, professional and personal dimensions. Student nurses more easily understood the practical outworking, than the more theoretical aspects, of the idea of dignity.  Conclusions: Dignity education needs to occupy a more prominent position in pre registration nursing programmes. This will ensure that students can maximise the learning opportunities afforded by movement between clinical and classroom settings to consider both theoretical and practical aspects of dignity in care.