Daniella Arieli
Emek Yezreel College, Israel
Title: Emotional work and diversity in clinical placements of nursing students
Biography
Biography: Daniella Arieli
Abstract
Nursing students cope with emotional challenges during their clinical placements. The challenges are particularly demanding when clinical placements take place in a setting of diversity. Based on a qualitative research undertaken with Israeli nursing students (Arieli, 2013), I will present emotional strains of various sorts - stress, ambivalence, disgust, frustrations and conflict – that arise in three types of relationships: students' relationships with patients, with the clinical instructors and with other students who are in their teams. Data shows that diversity has an impact on all these relationships. Data further shows that the students cope with the emotional strains that they experience through 3 main strategies of emotional work: distancing, self-motivation work and minimizing significance. The study indicates that the diversity of the clinical placement environment should be considered as an important factor, both in understanding students' experiences and learning processes, as well as in designing the support that they need.