Youthful Peak-experiences among India's Nursing Students: Educational Implications

Abstract

Nursing education has increasingly recognized the importance of dispositional factors in affecting student attrition and motivation. Yet meager empirical research exists on intrinsic motivational attributes of nursing students. In our view, early peak-experiences can provide useful information in this domain. We therefore collected data among Indian nursing students attending two nursing programs at a medical university in New Delhi. Sixty-six females responded to a questionnaire asking them to describe a peak-experience occurring before the age of 14 and its impact on their subsequent view of life. They also rated the enduring impact of their peak-experience on a 5-point Likert scale. Among their 68 reports, those involving external achievement were most frequent (35.3%). These were followed in frequency by interpersonal joy (27.9%), developmental landmark (17.7%), and receiving a material gift (11.8%). Peaks related to nature, skill mastery, or a religious experience in an institutional or non-institutional setting, were relatively rare, each accounting for less than 3% of all reports. No other categories of peak-experience, such as pertaining to aesthetics, philosophical musing, or serenity, were reported. The implications of our findings for optimizing Indian nursing education are discussed. Future avenues for research are highlighted.