“We’re giving them the tools.” A qualitative study of nursing students working with Recovery College trainers to support student wellbeing
The Journal of Mental Health Training, Education and Practice
ISSN: 1755-6228
Article publication date: 28 August 2021
Issue publication date: 3 January 2022
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to present a thematic analysis of student nurses’ experiences of an innovative collaboration between a mental health Recovery College and a nursing faculty, where Recovery College trainers’ expertise in co-production and peer facilitation were foregrounded. The aim of this study is to understand how nursing students experienced being peer facilitators of well-being workshops for fellow students following training with Recovery College trainers.
Design/methodology/approach
Thematic analysis of qualitative data from eight semi-structured interviews and a focus group with 15 participants.
Findings
The overarching theme that emerged was “The process of being a student Peer Facilitator”. Six themes emerged from the data: “What we brought”; “Conceptualisation”; “Adaptation”; “we’re giving them the tools”; “What we gained”; and “Development”.
Practical implications
Mental health nurse educators could forge collaborative relationships with Recovery College colleagues with a broader remit than service users’ “lived experience” of mental distress. Student nurses should be given opportunities to be peer facilitators and draw on their lived experience as student nurses as means of addressing their and their peers’ mental health.
Originality/value
Original findings were that the student experience of being a peer facilitator was different to their other experiences in education and clinical practice. They drew on their lived experience throughout and found that they learned skills to address their well-being through supporting other students to improve theirs.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
Sincere thanks to SLaM Recovery College (https://www.slamrecoverycollege.co.uk/) for their collaboration on this project. The authors wish to thank the research participants who gave their time to delivering and evaluating this project.Funding: The project, including the Recovery College trainers' input, was partially funded by a grant from Health Education England South East London Student peer facilitators received credit in the form of ‘signed off’ clinical hours but received no remuneration. Health Education England had no involvement in the design, data collection, data analysis or presentation of findings. Ethical approval: The study was approved by the ethics committee of King’s College London.
Citation
Oates, J., Hassan, R. and Coster, S. (2022), "“We’re giving them the tools.” A qualitative study of nursing students working with Recovery College trainers to support student wellbeing", The Journal of Mental Health Training, Education and Practice, Vol. 17 No. 1, pp. 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1108/JMHTEP-01-2021-0003
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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