Fighting for the otherness student nurses' lived experiences of growing in caring

Sammanfattning: In Swedish nursing education, student nurses should gain a bachelor degreein the main field of study. However, five designations of the main field ofstudy exist among the higher education institutions and the present thesisfocuses on the main field of study caring science. Former studies show thatthe acquisition of knowledge in caring by student nurses is characterized bytroubles, uncertainty and confusion. The aim was to describe how growingin caring is experienced by student nurses during education.The theoretical perspective was caring science with focus on caringscience didactics, while the epistemological frame constituted of a phenomenological lifeworld approach. Data was gathered with interviews andwritten narratives at different occasions during the education in order tograsp the general structure of growing in caring.The findings illuminated that growing in caring means a struggle forone’s own caring beliefs to exist and survive in a world filled with diverseexpectations of caring. Through recognizing expectations of caring, studentnurses discover the complexity of caring. In this complexity, they understand themselves as being different and the otherness appears. The otherness consists of unique beliefs about caring based on former experiences. Inorder to give evidence for the otherness, concepts from caring theories thatagree with one’s own caring beliefs are found, which transform the concepts from being meaningless to being essential in caring. The conceptsstrengthen the student nurses’ growth in caring and constitute a support intheir discussions about caring. In this struggle for gaining access with theirotherness, they become convinced that they can make changes for the patient and strength arises to fight for their otherness.The study showed that the otherness appears as the hub in the studentnurse’s world, which gains nourishment to discover paths to think, feel andact in a caring manner. This gives an incentive that innovative learningstrategies that both grasp the student nurses’ lifeworld as well as bringknowledge in caring into awareness for them are needed to be developed.