Dissertation: An exploratory study of mental health nurses experience and perceptions of user and carer involvement in higher education and its influence on practice.

McIntosh, Gwenne

Abstract

There is currently a growing expectation that Higher Education Institutions providing nurse education should do so in partnership with service users and carers (NES 2008a, NMC 2010). Currently there is little research evidence to indicate that this will bring about the desired change in the way that nurses work with service users in practice.
This qualitative study used semi-structured, individual interviews with student nurses on a mental health nursing degree programme to explore perceptions of service user and carer involvement in teaching and assessment and its impact on practice.
Interviews were transcribed and analysed using Colaizzi’s seven stage data analysis framework (Colaizzi 1978 in Holloway & Wheeler 2010). Five key themes emerged from the data analysis and included: Understanding and defining involvement, Impact of users and carers as teachers, Impact of users and carers as assessors, Perceptions of others practice and Influence on own practice.
The findings of this study indicate that user and carer involvement in teaching and assessment provides many opportunities to promote an ethos of partnership. While mirroring findings of other research in relation to the barriers to involvement and impact of language (Rees et al. 2007), terminology (Speers 2008) and roles (Hui & Stickley 2007), this study brings detail to the student nurses perspective, and the impact of carer involvement areas that are both frequently missed in the current body of literature. The findings show a perceived difference in the understanding and engagement with user and carer involvement in practice settings bringing challenges for students who are thought to be the “culture carriers” for future mental health services.

Citation

McIntosh, G. Dissertation: An exploratory study of mental health nurses experience and perceptions of user and carer involvement in higher education and its influence on practice. (Thesis). Edinburgh Napier University. http://researchrepository.napier.ac.uk/id/eprint/9591

• Thesis Type: Thesis
• Deposit Date: Sep 6, 2019
• Peer Reviewed: Not Peer Reviewed
• Public URL: http://researchrepository.napier.ac.uk/id/eprint/9591
• Award Date: 2012