The investigation of nursing student’s opinions about symbolic violence towards patients

INTRODUCTION: This study was aimed to investigate the views of the nursing students regarding the newspaper news that contain symbolic violence conducted against the patients in the institution.
METHODS: A qualitative descriptive study was conducted with 33 undergraduate nursing students at a University in Türkiye, who studied Nursing Ethics courses to examine views on symbolic violence. In the research, the newspaper news that contain symbolic violence against the patients which were published between the years 2013-2018 have been utilized. Participants were included in the study using purposive sampling method. The views of nursing students who volunteered were included in the study have been gathered regarding the question structured accordingly to the six selected news. The research materials were provided to students in the computer. These responses were Word file submissions. In data analysis, researchers firstly identified independent themes and sub-themes. Then, common themes and sub-themes were determined.
RESULTS: The main themes were as follows: “The causes of symbolic violence”, “education: raising awareness”, “field rules”, “feelings on events”. Related to news where ethical problems occurred, students stated that those nurses tend to show symbolic violence due to lack of professional knowledge. According to the students, images containing symbolic violence were shared for entertainment purposes within the team and on social media. The most students did not know about the laws and regulations of Türkiye related the nursing profession. Most of the students participating in the study stated that they do not have sufficient knowledge about the laws and regulations related to the nursing profession in Türkiye.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: The views of nursing students on symbolic violence behaviors were determined. According to the opinions, the symbolic violence applied to the patients is due to reasons such as not being able to gain a nursing habitus, experiencing depersonalization, getting social approval, and individual characteristics. Awareness programs for symbolic violence and its causes should be established and students should be adequately educated about the ethical values of nursing in the curriculum.