Preparing students for the emotional challenges of nursing: an integrative review

A gap exists between how nurse educators teach nursing students to identify and manage the emotional challenges of nursing and nurses' experiences after they enter practice. An integrative review was conducted to synthesize the literature on how nurse educators prepare students for the emotional challenges of practice. The literature (n = 14) revealed that the concept "emotional challenges of nursing" lacks a clear definition and conceptual clarity. Reflection was a common element found in the educational approaches identified. Research was directed at qualitatively exploring students' subjective experiences, and most researchers did not address educational outcomes beyond subjective perceptions. Although the authors recognized the importance of teaching in the affective domain, research that used a quantitative experimental design (n = 1) was scarce. A research agenda, including intervention studies, is needed to support the development of evidence-based teaching pedagogies to prepare students for the emotional challenges of practice.