Nursing Students' Perspectives: Experiences of Caring and Not-So-Caring Interactions with Faculty

The purpose of this study was to describe the meaning of baccalaureate nursing students' lived experience of caring and not-so-caring interactions with faculty. The research questions explored the phenomenon of being cared-for or not-cared-for by asking, "What does being cared-for by faculty mean to baccalaureate nursing students?" Students were also asked to describe not-so caring interactions with faculty. Seventeen baccalaureate nursing students at a private liberal arts college and 15 baccalaureate nursing students at a public university were interviewed. Transcripts of the tape-recorded interviews were analyzed using Giorgi's technique. After reflection upon the content of the interviews, significant statements were identified, meaning units were developed, and themes were extracted which were then abstracted into categories of Recognition, Connection, and Confirmation/Affirmation. Finally, general structural descriptions of phenomena of a caring and of a not-so-caring interaction were constructed. Implications for teaching, research, and practice are described.