Qualitative Pilot Study

The Method of Inquiry: General

The main aim of this qualitative pilot study is to describe the essence of experience undergraduate nursing students in communicating with psychiatric patients in mental health settings. The philosophical approach to this pilot study is based on the descriptive phenomenological method of inquiry as influenced by Edmund Husserl.

Introduction and Background of the Methodology

Husserl was interested in describing human experiences and developing the phenomenological descriptive philosophy (Creswell, 2003). The design of this pilot study is the qualitative approach utilizing a descriptive phenomenological research design to describe the undergraduate nursing students’ experiences communicating with psychiatric patients

Descriptive phenomenology is a qualitative inductive research approach that is particularly suited to complex concepts, such as care, the lived experience of a particular aspect of life, or feelings that are difficult to quantify (Husserl, 1978; Munhall & Chenail, 2008). Streubert and Carpenter (2011) proposed that qualitative study is a proper method for the integration of research and practice due to the likeness between the phenomenological research and the essence of psychiatric nursing practice. As little is known about the experience of undergraduate nursing students in communicating with psychiatric patients in mental health settings, this methodology guided this pilot study into finding the essence of these lived experiences.

Method of data analysis. Utilizing Colaizzi’s (1978) methodological approach to phenomenological inquiry, the decision trail and the resultant cluster and emergent themes are presented. Transcripts subjected to Colaizzi's (1978) phenomenological method of data analysis as it investigates issues of trustworthiness and rigor and offers practical examples of how to clarify the processes that can be used to analyze the research (Sanders,

The student was at the senior level in the nursing program and had finished 5 weeks of clinical practice. The sample was heterogeneous, including females and males, with the age range of 18-27 years, and the participant was able to communicate without obstacles. Exclusion criteria were any student has been working with psychiatric patients, has a family member with a mental disorder; and exclude any student has registered previously any mental health course. All participants asked to complete a descriptive questionnaire to describe the demographic data (Appendix A).

Setting for data collection. The place where the interview is conducted was determined by the participants, where the participant felt comfortable to verbalize experience. The researcher and participants met in a private, quiet room away from any other students, but still within the University of Connecticut campus. The total number of undergraduate nursing students is 474 students; they differ in demographics: Gender: Male: 63 (13%) Female: 411 (87%); Ethnicity: Asian: 7.1%; Black: 7.8. %; Caucasian: 74.3%; Hispanic: 8.5%; Unknown: 1%; Pacific Islander: 1.3% (UCONN,