Recognizing Grace in Grief Through Reflection in Nursing Education: A Qualitative Research Study

Diverse teaching and learning strategies are needed to develop emotionally intelligent new-graduate nurses who can empathetically care for dying patients. Reflective pedagogy, a teaching strategy that infuses reflection into education, is an effective strategy to enhance nursing student learning, educational enrichment, and emotional intelligence. This project aimed to explore nursing students' thoughts and feelings about end-of-life care through participation in the Grace in Grief intervention. This study examined the implementation of the student-centered intervention with mindful reflection and artistic expression to discuss emotions surrounding death and grief. The intervention was completed in a safe learning environment where course faculty facilitated the navigation of emotions, attitudes, and fears about death and how to care for dying patients and families through classroom discussion, artistic expression, and private reflection. After the intervention, students were asked to complete an online survey to reflect on the experience. Thematic analysis was used to analyze the students' responses to the survey. Four themes emerged from the qualitative analysis of open-ended responses. Summative themes indicated that educators could utilize reflection-based, student-centered learning activities to assist nursing students' development of emotional intelligence.