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With increasing numbers of novice nurse burnout, promoting a sense of belonging in nursing is vital for professional growth and psychological well-being (Patel et al., 2022). Belonging is defined in nursing literature as, “the perception of acceptance, security, and respect in the nursing profession,” which instructors should nurture in nursing school (Patel et al., 2022, p. 1). According to Maslow's hierarchy of needs, the motivation of love and belonging are situated above physiological and safety needs and must be attained before building self-esteem and achieving self-actualization (Ching et al., 2022).
To introduce this vital concept to undergraduate associate's degree nursing students with at least two terms of clinical experience, an elective course, Belonging in Nursing, was created. This course is not required for degree completion and is unique in that it utilizes the teaching method of narrative pedagogy with learning through storytelling. Narrative pedagogy is a powerful educational tool in which “instructors and students co-create, negotiate, and transform knowledge” through personal narratives that describe human experiences and assist in ascribing meaning to them (Armstrong & McCain, 2021, p. 61). Topics discussed in Belonging in Nursing include an introduction to belonging as a concept, moral distress, professional identity and professional boundaries, and readiness for practice.
While research shows that teaching concepts such as belonging in traditional undergraduate nursing programs is beneficial, the current nursing curriculum is robust, vast, and influenced by accreditors and boards of nursing (LeBlanc, 2021). Throughout a nursing program, nursing faculty are tasked to teach nursing students all they need to know to succeed on the national licensure exam, the NCLEX-RN®, and prepare them for entry-level practice, leaving little room for concepts outside the traditional curriculum. Due to robust curriculum and assessment requirements, there may also not be an opportunity to utilize narrative pedagogy effectively in undergraduate nursing courses, making an elective course a pragmatic option to introduce this teaching style.
Statement of Problem
With the high numbers of burnout reported in seasoned and novice nurses, the learning objectives of Belonging in Nursing were created to assist in combating that burnout risk in new graduate nursing students (Laws, 2022). Inconsistencies between imagined and actual nursing environments could lead to...