A passion for compassion

Published: 26 March 2013

Education Forum committee member Ruth Taylor reflects on her own motivation and passion for nursing education and asks some pertinent questions in the light of the Francis report

I am just about to change roles within the higher education sector. Not only am I changing roles, but I am moving from Scotland to England – with all the differences that will bring. With my move imminent, the lead for research and scholarship in my school of nursing and midwifery has asked me to do a session with our staff and research students – a “swan song”, as he called it. I’m not sure about the metaphor, as a swan song usually refers to a final “something” before death or retirement, and I am not planning on either.

The term also suggests silence until the last point – again, not an approach that I have taken. However, it is a privilege to be asked to do this. I am taking this opportunity to develop my thinking for the session, and to perhaps open up some questions for debate through our forum as we move further into 2013.

Reflecting back - looking forward

The time that I have spent in higher education has been wonderful. The experience that I have had in this sector is one which has offered me many opportunities. Academically I have been able to continue studying throughout much of my time in this particular institution – completing a master’s through the RCN and a PhD at Robert Gordon University. As all of you reading will know, it can be a challenge to juggle full-time work with home responsibilities alongside study. For me, it has been worth it.

Professionally, I have undertaken a number of roles. My first role was as a lecturer in the health cognate group, quickly followed by course leadership of a specialist practice (general practice nursing) course. It was this latter role that helped me to build up my knowledge of wider educational approaches and university processes and spurred me on to take further course leadership roles. I suppose that I specialised in pre-registration nursing education, working initially as a course leader and then as head of the pre-registration provision. It was the best and most challenging of areas to work in: the best because the students and the staff were (and still are) passionate about the learning; the most challenging because sometimes it was difficult to manage certain aspects of the student experience. My interest in the student experience, and in retention of students in particular, grew as I spent more time in these roles, investigating the first-year experience as part of my PhD studies. What has been gratifying is the way in which research can be translated into practice at both local and national levels through curriculum enhancements and policy development. I have been fortunate to have undertaken leadership roles both within the school and on a national level, and to have gained a professorship – possibly one of my proudest moments.

A passion for compassion

Now, as I’m about to leave, the most important learning for me relates to the students and what they bring to our profession. My last personal tutor group graduated recently. Having worked with this group for four years within their learning community, I discovered the enthusiasm, motivation, intelligence and commitment that they had (and continue to have) for their profession. Centred on the patient experience, we worked our way through a number of debates and discussions about being the best that they could be – and I could see them developing a passion for compassion. In light of the report of the Francis Inquiry, much consideration is being given to the “type” of person that comes into nursing (among very many other things). Having just completed a national  project about the selection of students in Scotland I am convinced that we need to seek out ways to determine candidates’ potential for the course and the career. What we mustn’t do is forget that students will undertake what should be a transformational educational process that will enable them to become the best they can be. As they work towards this fulfilment of their potential, their experiences in practice must enable them to keep that passion alive, so that they can continue to undertake their roles intelligently and compassionately.

So, my reflective questions are:

• what is it about nursing education that is transformational, and how do we capture this?
• how do we know that what we do through the educational process, both in practice and in the university, is impacting on the patient experience?
• how do we help students to sustain their passion for compassion?