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Aims and objectives: To examine how the concept of compassion is socially constructed within UK discourse, in response to recommendations that aspiring nurses gain care experience prior to entering nurse education. Background: Following a report of significant failings in care, the UK government proposed prior care experience for aspiring nurses as a strategy to enhance compassion amongst the profession. Media reporting of this generated substantial online discussion, which formed the data for this research. There is a need to define how compassion is constructed through language as a limited understanding exists, of what compassion means in health care. This is important, for any meaningful evaluation of quality, compassionate practices. Design: A corpus‐informed discourse analysis. Methods: A 62,626‐word corpus of data was analysed using Laurence Anthony software “AntCon”, a free corpus analysis toolkit. Frequent words were retrieved and used as a focal point for further analysis. Concordance lines were computed and analysed in the context of which frequent word‐types occurred. Patterns of language were revealed and interpreted through researcher immersion. Results: Findings identified that compassion was frequently described in various ways as a natural characteristic attribute. A pattern of language also referred to compassion as something that was not able to be taught, but could be developed through the repetition of behaviours observed in practice learning. In the context of compassion, the word‐type “nurse” was used positively. Conclusion: This study adds to important debates highlighting how compassion is constructed and defined in the context of nursing. Compassion is constructed as both an individual, personal trait and a professional behaviour to be learnt. Educational design could include effective interpersonal skills training, which may help enhance and develop compassion from within the nursing profession. Likewise, ways of thinking, behaving and communicating should also be addressed by established practitioners to maintain compassionate interactions between professionals as well as nurse–patient relationships. Future research should focus on how compassionate practice is defined by both health professionals and patients. Relevance to clinical practice: To maintain nursing as an attractive profession to join, it is important that nurses are viewed as compassionate. This holds implications for professional morale, associated with the continued retention and recruitment of the future workforce. Existing ideologies within the practice placement, the prior care experience environment, as well as the educational and organisational design, are crucial factors to consider, in terms of their influences on the expression of compassion in practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim To explore nostalgic constructions of nurse education in British National newspapers. Background British newspaper discourse relating to the increased academic level of nurse education in the UK is negative, evoking comparisons between negative constructions of nurse education in the present and an idealized nostalgic view of the past. Design Discussion paper. Data Sources This study used a critical discourse analysis approach to analyse 11 British Newspaper articles, which exemplify nostalgic constructions of nurse education. This was a purposive sample from a database search (LexisNexis) of British national newspaper articles relating to the increasing academic level of nurse education in the period from 1999-2012. Implications for Nursing A dominant nostalgic discourse constructs a 'golden era' of nurse education, which idealizes the past, making the present flawed in comparison. Nostalgic constructions create group identities creating contrasting 'caring' nurses educated in the idealized past with those educated now, who are perceived as too educated to care. An inherent characteristic of the nostalgic discourse is the notion that the solution to current problems with nurse education is a return to an idealized version of the past. Another less common newspaper discourse views nostalgia as a problematic construct. Conclusion Nostalgic discourse with a focus on the past potentially acts as a barrier to creating an effective nurse education system for the 21st Century. This focus on an idealized past also has potential consequences in terms of public opinion and legitimization of government policy, which might otherwise be viewed as retrograde. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]