Nursing education at an art gallery

To introduce an experiential teaching-learning method in nursing education based on art gallery visits. Works of art communicate a broad spectrum of human experiences and thoughts, and can be useful when studying interpersonal relations.

Theoretical framework on experiential learning was based on writings of Dewey and Burnard. Data were collected from nursing students (N = 206) at a university college of health sciences in Sweden during a 3-year period, 1995-1998.

The pedagogical approach was experiential and based on three phases: observation, conceptualisation, and reflection. When students visited the art gallery, they were encouraged to look for metaphoric expressions of interpersonal relations. Students were asked to interpret the art, report findings to fellow-students, and evaluate the program.

Studying works of art was a powerful teaching-learning method for understanding interpersonal relations. Students related interpretations of a work of art to interpersonal relations in nursing.

Nursing students' observations and understanding of interpersonal relations were enhanced by the art gallery program.