[en] Background: Self-esteem is proved to have a significant impact on nurses’ professional behaviour and competence. Previous studies have highlighted that nursing students reported a lower self-esteem than the general population of other students. Moreover, other reports have
pointed out a decrease in self-esteem during the education process of nurses. The aim of this study was to explore the key factors and mechanisms involved in the self-esteem of nursing students.
Methods: A purposive sample of 41 (33 females and 8 males) firstand second-year nursing students from 4 Belgian Colleges was interviewed in order to investigate perceived self-esteem and potential influencing factors selected from an integrative literature review. A phenomenological thematic analysis was done using NVivo 12 and themes were assembled in an explicative model following Mruk’s theory (2013).
Results: Students described their self-esteem during the first two years of education as being highly unstable. Mruk explains such variations through what he calls ‘self-esteem moments’, which are related to various stress factors including (1) frequently having to be accepted in new groups (as during training periods) and (2) rapidly and recurrently having to prove their competence. Students described two moments mostly impacting their self-esteem: (1) the training
period and particularly the nursing teams’ and teachers’ attitudes; and (2) receiving their exam results. Students reported that such ‘self-esteem moments’ influenced their professional behaviour, leading to either proactive engagement, or defensive withdrawal. The level of engagement fostered more or less the competence development, forming a circle either virtuous or vicious.
Conclusion: These first results allow to identify the perceived critical ‘self-esteem moments’ at the beginning of nursing curriculum and to explore their consequences on students’ self-esteem and engagement. Based on these results, actions focusing on self-esteem moments and on students’ ability to cope with them could be suggested to nursing schools.
Disciplines :
Public health, health care sciences & services
Author, co-author :
Dancot, Jacinthe ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département des sciences de la santé publique > Département des sciences de la santé publique
Pétré, Benoît ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département des sciences de la santé publique > Education thérap. du patient au serv. des soins int.
Guillaume, Michèle ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département des sciences de la santé publique > Epidémiologie nutritionnelle
Language :
English
Title :
Doctoral School Day in Public Health: A2 - How to tackle nursing students’ self-esteem decline? A qualitative phenomenological study