THE DIFFERENT REACTIONS TO WRITING PROCESS RECORDING BETWEEN LOW AND HIGH SELF-COMPASSIONATE STUDENTS: A PRE-POST QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS

抄録

Objective: Process recording is used in nursing education to help in improving students’ caring skills, which can be enhanced by increasing their self-care awareness. Although several negative reactions to writing process recording are indicated, the effect of self-compassion on students’ reaction is unclear. This study aimed to clarify the differences in the reaction to the process recording between low and high self-compassionate students.

Methods: Thirty-one nursing students of a university in Tokyo were recruited by classes. In a pretest–posttest design, participants answered the questionnaire before and after engaging in process recording. The questionnaire contained the following measures: the demographic questionnaire, the Japanese version of the Self-Compassion Scale (SCS) to assess self-compassion for the pre-test, and an open-ended question on their feelings/thoughts about process recording after responding to the post-test. The participants were divided into high and low self-compassion groups, and their feelings/thoughts about process recording were analyzed qualitatively for appropriate categories in each group.

Results: Four categories were identified in the low SCS group (14 participants): ease of writing, reflection on one’s own caring, focusing on one’s weaknesses or limitations, and difficulty of recalling the situation on which the participants reflected. Six categories were identified in the high SCS group (17 participants): difficulty in recalling the situation on which the participants reflected, reflecting on one’s own caring, gaining new perspectives on interpreting an interaction with the patients, recalling warm interactions with patients, focusing on a patient’s feelings, and realizing the merits of reflection.

Conclusion: Participants in both groups reflected on their own caring, suggesting that the process recording is effective as a reflective tool. They experienced difficulty in recalling their interactions, implying the need for an explanation on selecting the interaction with patients. The process recording was more effective among high than low self-compassionate students. The need for enhancing self-compassion before process recording was discussed.