Using appreciative inquiry to transform student nurses’ image of nursing

INTRODUCTION: Literature provides adequate evidence of a poor perception of nursing within the profession, resulting in high rates of attrition of student nurses and newly qualified nurses. The nursing profession, in particular nurse educators, has an ethical and professional responsibility to find innovative strategies to promote the positive image of nursing amongst student nurses. PURPOSE: The purpose of the study was to explore the potential of appreciative inquiry (AI) as an intervention teaching strategy to transform student nurses’ image of nursing. DESIGN: A quantitative, quasi-experimental, explorative-descriptive design comprising the pretest, appreciative inquiry as intervention, and the post-test was used. METHODS: Convenience sampling was used to select third and fourth year college and university student nurses in the Gauteng province of South Africa for the pre- and the post-test respectively. Data were collected by means of a questionnaire and analysed by SPSS version 20.0. FINDINGS: The pretest results revealed a mix of positive and negative perceptions of the image of nursing amongst student nurses. The negative perceptions of the image of nursing that needed intervention included the working conditions of nurses, and the perception of nursing as a profession that was not respected and appreciated. The post-test results showed a significant and positive change in the student nurses’ perception of the image of nursing as a respected and appreciated profession. Although AI resulted in a negative to positive change in some aspects of student nurses’ image of nursing, the negative perceptions of the working conditions of nurses remained and became more negative. The positive image of gender in nursing was enhanced following the implementation of AI. CONCLUSION: Appreciative inquiry demonstrated potential as a teaching strategy to produce a positive nursing image change and positive orientation towards nursing amongst student nurses.