Exploring nursing education from a phenomenographic approach to help project mental health education into the 21st century

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Sinead Barry

La Trobe University, Australia

: Int J Ment Health Psychiatry

Abstract

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Aim: The purpose of this literature review was to collect evidence for future research into mental health nursing education. The aim is to share findings from nursing education research studies in which phenomenography was used to understand how students approach studies in nursing. Background: Phenomenographic studies have been valuable in investigating students’ experience of learning to inform thinking about higher education curricula. Methods: An international review of literature exploring pre-registration nursing education between 2006 and 2016 using a phenomenographic approach was undertaken. Results: Utilization of a phenomenographic approach has been highlighted as an innovative research design in pre-registration nursing education to identify variation in student learning. This approach would be valuable for future research to identify variation in which students perceive the concept of mental health within nursing education. Conclusion: Consideration of nursing educations role in bridging the theoretical and clinical gap requires further phenomenographic research exploring how students approach studies in mental health nursing. Based on this my PhD titled ‘A Phenomenographic Exploration of Undergraduate Nursing Student’s Understandings of Mental Health: Implications for an Undergraduate Bachelor of Nursing Curriculum’ will help address this current gap in nursing education.

Biography

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Sinead Barry’s appointment as a Lecturer in Nursing is in conjunction with undertaking her PhD ‘A Phenomenographic Exploration of Undergraduate Nursing Student’s Understandings of Mental Health: Implications for an Undergraduate Bachelor of Nursing Curriculum’. She is a Registered Nurse with experience in acute mental health services located across Melbourne, Australia. She has a developing portfolio of published papers within the field of mental health nursing education. Alongside Dr. Louise Ward, she has been recognized for her outstanding contribution to teaching and learning for the development of an art based program to build student’s confidence to talk about mental health with clients.

Email: s.barry@latrob.edu.au