Empathy and Care Outcomes of Service Learning Among Students: A Mixed Methods Study for Nursing
John F. Martin, Ph.D., Senior Program Officer, Butterfield Memorial Foundation
This paper presentation reports an empirical dissertation study in process, structured as a mixed methods exploration of service learning’s affective outcomes among under-graduate nursing students. The study is inter-disciplinary, near the intersection of higher education research, nursing, and moral development. The specific problem examined in this study is that service learning is utilized by university educators, largely without a full understanding of its effect upon students. The purpose of this study is to explore the emotive personal development pertaining to moral orientation, empathy, and caring that occurs within a student who aspires to be a nursing healthcare provider, as a result of a service learning experience. Rather than examining aspects of cognitive learning, the research uses a pre-test / post-test design in the study’s qualitative portion and a phenomenological look at the lived experiences of students as they complete their first service learning experience in nursing, in the qualitative portion. The research involves survey responses of numerous nursing students from multiple campuses, before and after this first clinical nursing service learning experience. Participants learned of the study through announcements via associations of nurses (Nurses Christian Fellowship and Oklahoma Nursing Student Association). An adequate number of survey responses from students will lead to analyzable data of statistical significance. In addition to the survey information, the data collected will include focused interviews with students following their service learning experiences. Consistent with phenomenological research, the interview data collected will be informed by the actual, lived experience of the students.
Two research questions are addressed in the quantitative phase of the study.
Q1. To what extent does a service learning experience enhance nursing students’ demonstrated empathy?
The Kiersma-Chen Empathy Scale (KCES) was developed within pharmacology and nursing education to measure empathy in students, and it will be used in the analysis of this question (Kiersma, et al., 2013).
Q2. To what extent does service learning contribute to the moral orientation of students who are preparing for careers as nurses?
The Measure of Moral Orientation was designed to assess students’ orientation toward care and justice, as well as the strength of a student’s moral voice, and it will be used to analyze this question (Liddell, et al., 1992; Liddell, 2006).
A final question addressed in the qualitative phase is:
Q3. What meaning do nursing students attach to the service learning experience with regard to viewing themselves as empathetic caregivers?
The study draws theoretical foundations from theories employed within the fields of nursing and moral development. More specifically, the theoretical perspective is informed by the Ethic of Care (Noddings, 2003) and the Theory of Caritative Care (Erikkson, 1988, 2002). These theories surround issues of care for patients and are appropriate as lenses through which to view the students’ service learning experiences. The statistical analysis of survey findings, along with the analysis of qualitative themes within the interviews, will together add to a small but growing body of knowledge about the efficacy of this type of experiential learning and its role in forming caring healthcare professionals.
This paper presentation reports an empirical dissertation study in process, structured as a mixed methods exploration of service learning’s affective outcomes among under-graduate nursing students. The study is inter-disciplinary, near the intersection of higher education research, nursing, and moral development. The specific problem examined in this study is that service learning is utilized by university educators, largely without a full understanding of its effect upon students. The purpose of this study is to explore the emotive personal development pertaining to moral orientation, empathy, and caring that occurs within a student who aspires to be a nursing healthcare provider, as a result of a service learning experience. Rather than examining aspects of cognitive learning, the research uses a pre-test / post-test design in the study’s qualitative portion and a phenomenological look at the lived experiences of students as they complete their first service learning experience in nursing, in the qualitative portion. The research involves survey responses of numerous nursing students from multiple campuses, before and after this first clinical nursing service learning experience. Participants learned of the study through announcements via associations of nurses (Nurses Christian Fellowship and Oklahoma Nursing Student Association). An adequate number of survey responses from students will lead to analyzable data of statistical significance. In addition to the survey information, the data collected will include focused interviews with students following their service learning experiences. Consistent with phenomenological research, the interview data collected will be informed by the actual, lived experience of the students.
Two research questions are addressed in the quantitative phase of the study.
Q1. To what extent does a service learning experience enhance nursing students’ demonstrated empathy?
The Kiersma-Chen Empathy Scale (KCES) was developed within pharmacology and nursing education to measure empathy in students, and it will be used in the analysis of this question (Kiersma, et al., 2013).
Q2. To what extent does service learning contribute to the moral orientation of students who are preparing for careers as nurses?
The Measure of Moral Orientation was designed to assess students’ orientation toward care and justice, as well as the strength of a student’s moral voice, and it will be used to analyze this question (Liddell, et al., 1992; Liddell, 2006).
A final question addressed in the qualitative phase is:
Q3. What meaning do nursing students attach to the service learning experience with regard to viewing themselves as empathetic caregivers?
The study draws theoretical foundations from theories employed within the fields of nursing and moral development. More specifically, the theoretical perspective is informed by the Ethic of Care (Noddings, 2003) and the Theory of Caritative Care (Erikkson, 1988, 2002). These theories surround issues of care for patients and are appropriate as lenses through which to view the students’ service learning experiences. The statistical analysis of survey findings, along with the analysis of qualitative themes within the interviews, will together add to a small but growing body of knowledge about the efficacy of this type of experiential learning and its role in forming caring healthcare professionals.