Development of Public Mind in Nursing Students

Abstract

Public mind is a moral and an ethical characteristic that a person should have. It is willingly expressed of person’s participations in activities or situations that benefit others, communities, and society. Cultivating a public mind in nursing profession is therefore essential. It begins from public mind development in nursing students to be a good professional nurse by cultivating them with morality, ethics, caring mind, humanized care, and public mind so that they can be qualified and competent graduates as desired by the society. The development of public mind in nursing students can be done by inserting the public mind related contents and activities in each teaching, in integrated learning, and in a variety of learning styles to promote students to be public minded. Especially, it can be done through the services learning focuses on providing students the experience of public mind services and activities given to society directly. Through such experience, the nursing students will be motivated to aware in social services and self-develop as a person with public mind.

Boromarajonani College of Nursing, Suratthani had organized Life Skills Subject for the 1st year students in Bachelor of Nursing Science Program as an integrated teaching and academic service in the topic of Public Mind and Social Problem Solving in Marginal and Disadvantaged Clients. This course provided nursing students to have service learning. The service targeted at 140 clients, including students in primary schools in Mueang District, Suratthani, youth of a training center, Region 8, Suratthani, and clients in psychosocial therapy center of Suansaranrom Hospital, to make them be knowledgeable, understandable and to be aware in having a good life skills. With this service nursing students could apply knowledge from service learning to self-develop as a person with public mind appropriately. From this learning, it was found that the clients had knowledge, understanding, and awareness in life skills at a very good level, and they were also satisfied with the overall of academic services at a very good level. In addition, the nursing students could apply knowledge from service learning to self-develop being public mind appropriately. They commented that service learning was very good; it helped them to understand about the public mind very well and applied the results from service learning to develop being a public minded person. This teaching showed that service learning makes students get new ideas and knowledge, learn about public mind, and have motivations for providing social services. They wanted to bring this experience to have their self-development for being a public mind.