Finnish Nurse Teachers' Perceptions of their ‘Scientific Thinking’ and its Development during Master's‐level Teacher Education at University

Abstract

There are very few studies on nurse teachers education, since the main interest has been on the demanding nature of a teacher's work. In Finland, the educational system of nursing care is developing rapidly and nurse teachers' education is changing as well. However, there is no research into academic nurse teacher education, even though this can be seen as important with regard to the educational system as well as to the nursing discipline. In this study, the objective was to describe 45 nurse teachers' perceptions of the development of their scientific thinking during Master's-level studies at the university. Open-ended questions were used in collecting the material with a questionnaire. The results of this phenomenographic research show that the need to increase one's scientific knowledge, as well as external demands, were the reasons for applying for admission to the university. Conceptions of the development of scientific thinking differed with regard to the processing of knowledge and to changes or developments in scientific thinking. The teachers' conceptions of the use of scientific nursing knowledge varied as well. The results challenge future teacher education and how it is arranged and developed. Further research, utilising different research methods, is needed into the development of scientific thinking.