Nurturing Caring Characteristics on Nurse Candidate: A Character Learning Model in Nursing Education

Abstract

The caring characteristics have been considered a fundamental element of nursing as it has been studied in a variety of patient care and educational contexts for many years. To teach and cultivate caring as a character value in nurse candidates, a character education model is required. To answer this issue, this study aims at developing caring characteristics learning model for nurse candidates through a basic human needs class. This study employs a 4D design reflecting its stages: Defining, designing, developing, and disseminating by involving 168 participants consisting of 4 lecturers, 41 nurses, 3 experts, and 120 nurse candidates from one of universities in Sumedang, West Java. 18 characters were recognized as significant values for a nurse, and the I-CARE paradigm was used to include these values in the learning process. It was found that the I-CARE learning paradigm is efficient in instilling caring characteristics in nurse candidates. This study adds to the body of knowledge on how to develop human resources in the health care sector.