A model to facilitate the teaching of caring to diagnostic radiography students: Original research

Background: Healthcare has moved towards a patient-centred caring environment. Radiography students have described feeling unprepared for daily patient interactions therefore, it is essential for educators to facilitate the development of caring attributes in students. Objective: The objective of this article is to describe the process that was followed in order to develop a model to facilitate the teaching of caring to diagnostic radiography students. Method: A qualitative, theory-generating, exploratory and descriptive research design was used. Phase one was a descriptive, exploratory study that utilized focus group interviews to explore and describe the concept of caring from the perspective of first year diagnostic radiography students. Phase two, the focus of this article, was the theory generation phase of the study which began with identifying a central concept from the focus group interview results. The central concepts were then defined according to dictionary and literature sources and relationships between the identified concepts were created. Thereafter, the model was developed. Results: The central concept was identified as the “facilitation of a culture of caring”. This concept was then defined, classified and described. Conclusion: This model as a framework of reference could assist diagnostic radiography educators in facilitating the teaching of caring among student radiographers.