An adaptable instrument and method for exploring care and compassion
Roger Newham Senior lecturer, Buckinghamshire New University, London, UK
Louise Terry Reader, London South Bank University, London, UK
Background Narratives, particularly when visual and auditory elements are added to words, reveal more about cultures and behaviours, including those present in professional and service settings. Discourse analysis (DA) enables researchers to explicate meanings and understandings linking culture and behaviour.
Aim To explain the development of a DA instrument and method for a research study of caring and compassion as expressed in different media.
Discussion The DA instrument assisted in systematic and multi-modal data analysis by several researchers from different countries and backgrounds. DA appears well-suited to revealing the complexities of caring and compassion by healthcare and social care educators, capturing ‘objectivist’ and ‘subjectivist’ accounts. While allowing differences, it also helped to achieve some commonality.
Conclusion Together, the instrument and method could be used in educating nurses about care and compassion.
Implications for practice The DA instrument and method can be adapted by other nurse researchers to examine complex human issues.
Nurse Researcher.
24, 3, 8-12.
doi: 10.7748/nr.2017.e1451
Correspondence
roger.newham@bucks.ac.uk
Peer review
This article has been subject to external double-blind peer review and checked for plagiarism using automated software
Conflict of interest
None declared
Received: 20 November 2015
Accepted: 25 April 2016
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