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Envy in a nurse education community
International Journal of Nursing Studies 40 (2003) 259–268
Envy in a nurse education community Eija Heikkinena,*, Eila Latvalaa, Arja Isolab b
a Kajaani Polytechnic of Health and Welfare, P.O. Box 52, FIN-87100 Kajaani, Finland Department of Nursing and Health Administration, University of Oulu, P.O. Box 5000, 90014 Oulu, Finland
Received 21 December 2001; received in revised form 2 September 2002; accepted 10 September 2002
Abstract The definition of envy is based on views of anthropology, sociology, psychology and nursing science. According to these definitions, a nurse education community consists of shared values, customs and beliefs common in the nursing community. The purpose of this paper was to describe envy in the reciprocal relations between student nurses in a polytechnic of health and welfare in Finland. The sample consisted of 110 student nurses in one faculty of health and welfare in a Finnish polytechnic. They were selected from among the available (attending classes) students, who had been studying in the same group for 1–3 years in 1996. The response percentage was 85.5 (n ¼ 94). The data were processed by various statistical methods. The findings of envy in a nurse education community were defined through the student nurses’ views of their sense of self, their relations with their fellow students, the objects of envy and also the influence of the lecturers. The ways of coping with envy were also identified. The most common object of envy was a fellow student who worked part-time while studying. Another object of envy consisted of fellow students successful in examinations and skills, such as listening, friendships and good ideas. The students coped with their envy by sharing their own success and by denying envy. These results highlight some essential points of envy in a nurse education community and underline the need for open discussion, as emotions and envy are important to understand as part of nurse education. If envy is not identified, it may cause learning problems and even problems in patient care. r 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords: Envy; Education community of nursing; Student nurse
1. Introduction Many papers define envy through cultural forms and symbolic behaviour (Foster, 1972; Teitelbaum, 1976; Walcot, 1978), and it is also characterised as having social and unexpected social functions (Schoeck, 1969; Bacon, 1965; Foster, 1972; Faris, 1972). Envy is also defined in psychology (Klein, 1994) and nursing science (Heikkinen et al., 1998; Maijala et al., 2000). It seems that the cultural symbols of social relationships cannot be understood separately from the form of these *Corresponding author. Tel.: +358-8-61899206; fax: +3588-61899640. E-mail address: [email protected].fi (E. Heikkinen).
relationships (Faris, 1972). The essence of envy is difficult to define because it reflects unconscious feelings, but is said to affect everyone’s life (Alberoni, 1993). The essence of envy has not been previously analysed in nursing science in relation to health care education and the nurse education community. The purpose of this paper was to describe envy in the reciprocal relations between student nurses in a polytechnic of health and welfare in Finland. A nurse education community consists of shared values, traditions, customs and attitudes, which are different from the culture of any other community. Nurse education thus combines social and educational contents (Appleton, 1990) and also ethnicity, which confers the basic identity of an individual, i.e. the sense of belonging and of self (Price and Cortis, 2000). A good
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nurse is considered a ‘‘fragile white sister’’ (Heikkinen et al., 1998), which implies immaculateness, moral rectitude, responsibility (Toit DLitt and Phil, 1995) and willingness to care for and help people (HemsleyBrown and Foskett, 1999). According to Fitzgerald and van Hooft (2000), theoretical knowledge of ethics and care does not necessarily make for better and more caring nurses. Student nurses will learn to care for patients if they themselves are cared for in the educational community (Paterson and Crawford, 1994; Fitzgerald and van Hooft, 2000). Such care is shown by lecturers who treat their students as equals and are genuinely interested in them (Nelms, 1990; Paterson and Crawford, 1994). Patient care may deteriorate if there is a lack of confidence, unsound competition or a lot of envy in the educational community or in nursing practice. Through a process of collaboration and dialogue (Fitzgerald and van Hooft, 2000), students’ co-operative and individual responsibilities for their education are accentuated (Nelms, 1990). This study describes the nature, manifestation and amount of envy among student nurses in one polytechnic of health and welfare in Finland. The findings will be presented in the following order: the student’s sense of self, objects of envy among fellow students, influence of lecturers on the students’ envy, and the students’ ways of coping with envy.
2. Review of the literature Envy is closely associated with certain emotions. A person feels envy for something that belongs to another person and jealousy for something that belongs to him/ herself (Walcot, 1978; Foster, 1972). According to Scheler (1961), resentment develops through a revengemalice-envy-malevolence and disparagement stimulus. Envy is manifested as resentment when the revengeful and malicious feelings are subdued. Resentment is synonymous to embitterment, because both feelings represent a generalised, long-term and pessimistic attitude towards life. There is a feeling of malicious pleasure between a disparagement stimulus and malice. Envy and greed are associated with each other cyclically; a greedy person is envied, because he/she continuously wants more, which leads the envious person towards greed. The greedy person wants to have as much as possible to remain free from the feeling of emptiness but never gets enough. An envious person always thinks that other people have more. (Berke, 1991; Klein, 1994). According to Foster (1972), Teitelbaum (1976) and Walcot (1978), envy is defined as a pan-human phenomenon, which is abundantly present in every society and, to a greater or lesser extent, in every human being. In every society, people use symbolic and
nonsymbolic cultural forms whose function is to neutralise or otherwise control the dangers they see stemming from envy and especially their fear of envy. The evil eye has been associated with envy throughout centuries in many cultures. The evil eye has the power to harm or to cast a spell through an evil glance. The evil eye can be used consciously or subconsciously. A basic assumption of this study is that a nurse education community consists of shared meanings, values, attitudes and beliefs, of which aspects of envy are involved in the organisational culture. The essence of envy in a nurse education community is also shaped by the student nurses’ sense of self, the objects of envy in nurse education, the lecturer’s influence on envy and the ways of coping with envy. According to Klein (1994) and Alberoni (1993), human self-esteem affects the experience of envy. If a person has a good self-esteem, he/she is able to value him/herself and respect his/her own feelings and opinions. A person with poor self-esteem is in constant need of other people’s attention in order to manage with his/her life. Envy is defined to be strongest in relation to an equal and also when a person close to the envious one has reached a goal in his/her life or won in a competition. The major objects of envy in nursing practise in Finland were the fellow workers’ salary, the supervisor’s favourites and prot!eg!es and other people’s skills (Heikkinen et al., 1998). Another person’s prosperity or prestige caused speechlessness, rage and powerlessness (Klein, 1994; Alberoni, 1993). The fear of being personally envied and the fear to admit being envious overcame the recognition of envy as a positive force in, for example, personal growth or the development of a community (Foster, 1972). The core experience of envy among psychiatric nurses in Finland was defined as a ‘‘lacking’’, and the object of envy as something good possessed by someone else (Maijala et al., 2000). The next important aspect is that envy is sometimes present in a group. A community can be divided into groups of educated and untrained, quiet and talkative people. People feel safe when they belong to a group whose membership indicates that the members value the same things. Sometimes a group competes with another group (Foster, 1972). When group members compete as individuals, they do not want to share their own knowledge, information and themselves with the others. They do not borrow notes or help in co-operation. They compete in performance with the other members (Hughes, 1993). When envy is present in a group, the members try to hide their skills, because they are afraid of being objects of envy (Foster, 1972). If nurse students hide their skills, they cannot do their best in caring or in education. The nurse lecturer’s role in the educational community may have an influence on student nurses’ envy. Lecturers have an effect on students through their
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personal attitudes, which are manifested in their behaviour and their way to communicate information. The activity of education is influenced by the values that are currently important in society and the way in which these are transmitted to the students (Paterson and Crawford, 1994). An envious person tries to cope with envy by denying the envied value, telling unpleasant things about the object of envy or daydreaming. Some people cope with envy by means of social reaction. In sublimation, envy is veiled in morality or social resentment (Foster, 1972; Berke, 1991; Alberoni, 1993). In nursing practice in Finland, the employees coped with their envy by not speaking about it (Heikkinen et al., 1998). The person who feels envy cannot tell others about it, because he/ she is ashamed (Klein, 1994; Alberoni, 1993). Sometimes a scapegoat is needed when a community tries to protect itself from a hard thing, e.g. guilt. The scapegoat may be a member of the community or an outsider, and he or she may differ in some respect from the other members (Schoeck, 1969).
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Table 1 Background variables of respondents Background variables
N
(%)
Gender Female Male
86 8
91.5 8.5
Age 20–29 30–39 >40
78 14 2
83 15 2
39
41.5
Previous training Previous nursing training (basic course in welfare and health care: e.g. assistant nurse or home help) Previous vocational training (e.g. commercial training) No previous vocational training
25
26.6
30
31.9
Marital status Married or cohabiting Single Divorced
48 44 2
51 47 2
3. Aims of the study The aim of this study was to find out and clarify aspects of envy in the reciprocal relations between student nurses in a polytechnic of health and welfare in Finland. Answers were sought to the following questions: 1. What kind of sense of self does the student nurse have in the educational community? 2. What are the objects of envy among student nurses? 3. What kind of influence does the lecturer have on student nurses’ feelings of envy? 4. What defence mechanisms are used by student nurses to cope with envy?
4. Research methods The sample consisted of 110 student nurses in a Finnish polytechnic of health and welfare. The response percentage was 85.5 (n ¼ 94). The respondents were selected from among the available (attending classes) students, who had been studying in the same group for 1–3 years. The average respondent was a 23-year-old (20–45 years) female student who was cohabiting or married. The background variables are shown in Table 1. It was emphasised to all respondents that their anonymity was guaranteed and that all information would be considered confidential. It was explained that the answers would be used for research purposes. The data were collected in May 1996 by means of a
questionnaire addressing the essence of envy on the basis of relevant literature and research. The instrument was specifically designed for this study, but an instrument elaborated for a nursing community was used as the basis. It turned out in the nursing community survey that people could not be asked about feelings of envy directly, because the respondents almost completely denied its existence. Therefore, the items were constructed in such a way that envy was not mentioned as a concept. (Heikkinen et al., 1998). The measuring instrument elaborated for nursing communities was pre-tested three times (n ¼ 30) in different nursing communities, and the present instrument was tested once (n ¼ 15) to ensure its validity and reliability. The variables were classified as none, moderate and strong envy (see Floyd and Fowler, 1989; Polit and Hungler, 1999). The questionnaire consisted of 89 questions, of which 81 were statements, and the student’s age, gender, marital status and earlier vocational training were elicited. Based on the statements, a description was outlined of the respondent’s sense of self in the educational community, their objects of envy, the lecturers’ influence on student nurses’ envy and the defence mechanisms used in coping with envy. The frequency and percentage distributions and medians were calculated from the background variables of the research data. The connections between the variables were analysed using Spearman’s sequence correlation and cross-tabulation. The summarised variables were formulated on the basis of the statements.
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The internal consistency of the summarised variables was evaluated by using Cronbach’s reliability coefficient alpha. Factor analysis was carried out with the polar axis method, and the factors created were rotated using quartimax rotation. The factors were decoded on the basis of the high factor loadings (>0.4), and a smaller number of factors were formulated on the basis of a shared name. In addition, commonality (H2) was calculated to show the extent to which the variables in question were explained by different factors. Only the connections and differences whose discovered significance was smaller than 0.05 were reported (Polit and Hungler, 1999). The structural validity of the statements concerning envy was studied with the help of factor analysis. The explanatory proportions of the factors formulated here were relatively good (42.1–62.1%). This shows that the measuring instrument actually measured the object of study (Floyd and Fowler, 1989). The factors constructed on the basis of factor analysis were named according to their contents: *
*
*
Content area 1: Student nurses’ sense of self in the educational community. Content area 2: Objects of envy among fellow student nurses. Content area 3: Lecturers’ influence on student nurses’ envy.
*
Content area 4: Coping with envy by means of defence mechanisms.
The reliability of the statements pertaining to the essence of envy was examined by analysing the internal consistency of the measuring instrument with the help of Cronbach’s alpha reliability coefficient (0.90–0.99 reliability high; 0.80–0.89 good; 0.79–0.70 medium, 0.69 or questionable). This shows the proportion of the results that represent real differences between individuals (Polit and Hungler, 1999). Cronbach’s alpha was lowest (0.1) on the items representing coping with envy. The low reliability was due to the regular distribution of the responses on the scale as well as the small number of variables. Cronbach’s alpha was highest for the items representing the object of envy (0.74), in which the number of variables was largest and the variables correlated with each other more than with the other items. The reliabilities were best on each item’s first factor, which were good (0.76–0.94). The scales of item reliabilities were also calculated (Marascuilo and Serlin, 1988; Polit and Hungler, 1999). Conclusions can be made only with regard to this sample, because the sample merely included 110 students. The study group represents the students of one Finnish polytechnic of health and welfare (Table 2).
5. Findings Table 2 Structural validity and reliability of factor analysis Factors
Explanatory proportions (%)
Cronbach’s alfa
Student’s sense of self I am OK I am sincere I am outsider
42.1 28.2 13.9 10.8
0.40 0.87 0.57 0.35
Envy of a fellow student You have, I haven’t Competition Pet Male position Men
55.7 29.3 8.5 7.0 5.1 4.0
0.74 0.94 0.55 0.66 0.56 0.27
Lecturers as causes of envy Bubble Framework Reserved lecturer Skilful lecturer Sincere lecture
62.1 20.9 15.8 11.0 7.7 7.4
0.36 0.77 0.59 0.39 0.57 0.48
Coping with envy Sharing Speechlessness
46.3 22.9 14.7
0.1 0.76 0.43
5.1. Student nurses’ sense of self in the educational community The student nurses’ position in the educational community reflected their self-knowledge (good points 54%/51, bad points 83%/78), respect (72%/68) and appreciation (80%/75). Altogether 12% (11) of the respondents felt themselves to be scapegoats. The nursing student’s sense of self was represented by three factors: (1) I am OK, (2) I am sincere, (3) I am an outsider. The overall explanatory proportion of the factors was 42.1%. The ‘‘I am OK’’ factor showed that the student accepted him/herself and co-operated with the fellow students. The ‘‘I am sincere’’ factor represented the student’s possibility to express his/her opinions in the educational group. The ‘‘I am an outsider’’ factor represented the students who felt themselves impersonal. Some interesting differences between the students without any vocational training, with previous vocational training and with previous nursing training are shown in Table 3. It seemed that the student nurses without previous vocational training considered their sense of self-good in the nurse education community, while the students with previous vocational training (e.g. commercial training) considered themselves outsiders. According to these findings,
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Table 3 Student’s sense of self and vocational training Student’s sense of self/vocational background
No previous vocational training (n ¼ 30)
Previous vocational training (n ¼ 25)
Previous nursing training (%) (n ¼ 39)
I am OK Ambitious co-operative accepting him/herself Responsible for one’s own studies
80% 77% 87% 90%
40% 36% 36% 40%
51% 50% 52% 39%
I am sincere Expressing opinions
73% (21)
52% (13)
28% (11)
I am an outsider Feelings of evil eyes
27% (8)
72% (18)
49% (19)
(24) (23) (26) (27)
the student nurses with previous vocational training were the least sincere when expressing their opinions in the group. 5.2. Envy of a fellow nursing student According to the results, the most envied of all was a fellow student nurse who was working while studying, because part-time jobs are not easy to find in Finland. The fellow students who got better marks in examinations were also envied. Third on the list came the fellow students who were more intelligent than the respondent. The following five factors indicated the objects of envy: (1) you have, I have not, (2) competition, (3) pet, (4) male position, and (5) men. The explanatory proportion of these factors was 55.7%. The ‘‘you have, I haven’t’’ factor represented a fellow student’s property that caused envy. 40%(12) of the students who did not have previous working experience (n ¼ 30) envied moderately and 32.5%(10) strongly those who had such experience (n ¼ 54). It also seemed that skills, such as good listening skills, friendships or the ability to produce new ideas, were envied. The competition factor reflected envy pertaining to students’ success in studying. The most diligent students were students with previous vocational training (84%/ 21). Group examinations were considered good by the students without previous vocational training (62%/19). Individual examinations were best according to 58% (23) of the respondents with previous nursing trained. Competition and hiding tendencies were related. It seemed that a fellow student’s success encouraged one, but success was appreciated most in an individual examination. The ‘‘pet’’ factor pertained to lecturers’ favourites, prote! ge! s and fellow students’ talent. The ‘‘male position’’ factor referred to the tendency of men to get more
(7) (9) (9) (10)
(21) (20) (21) (15)
attention and to have a better position than females in a student group. The ‘‘men’’ factor was also related to cheerfulness and laughing. It seemed that male students had a different position in the nurse education group because of their gender and sex. Those cohabiting or married thought (48) that there was some (43.8%/21) or plenty of (42%/20) cheerfulness in the educational community. Envy of the fellow student is shown in Table 4. 5.3. Lecturers’ influence on student nurses’ envy The things concerning lecturers as causes of envy loaded on five factors: (1) bubble, (2) framework, (3) reserved lecturer, (4) skilful lecturer, and (5) sincere lecturer. The explanatory proportion of these factors was 62.1%. The ‘‘bubble’’ factor included things concerning the application of equal requirements, regularly planning meetings, and the lecturers’ responsibility for the students’ study achievement. The factor indicated that the requirements applied to students were different. According to 79.5% (31) of the respondents with previous nursing training or previous vocational training (80%/20), the requirements applied were not equal. The lecturers’ responsibility for the students’ study achievement was considered most significant by the respondents with some previous vocational training (72%/18) and those with previous nursing training (61.5%/24). It was an interesting point that half of the respondents (47) felt that the lecturers had the most responsibility for the students’ professional education. The ‘‘framework’’ factor included things concerning the lecturers’ decision-making, management of student nurses and evaluation. There seemed to be problems concerning decision-making because 68% (64) of the student nurses felt that decisions were not adhered to. The lecturers who treated student nurses unequally
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Table 4 Envy of a fellow student and feeling of envy Envy of fellow student/feeling of envy
None
Moderate
Strong
You have I haven’t Has holidays abroad Has working experience Is intelligent Is a good listener Has new clothes Won a large sum of money Is friendly with everyone Is popular among the other students Is working while studying Has new ideas Is good-looking
42% 50% 48% 58% 45% 51% 53% 58% 31% 42% 55%
(39) (47) (45) (52) (40) (47) (50) (53) (29) (39) (52)
37% 30% 33% 25% 40% 34% 33% 28% 57% 46% 33%
(35) (28) (31) (23) (35) (31) (31) (25) (54) (42) (31)
21% 20% 19% 17% 15% 15% 14% 14% 12% 12% 12%
Competition More hard-working than the other student Other students’ success A team exam is better than an individual exam Better marks in examinations
17% 13% 35% 33%
(16) (12) (33) (31)
29% 34% 43% 46%
(27) (32) (40) (43)
54% (51) 53% (50) 22% (21) 21%(20)
Pet Lecturers’ favourite Smarter than me Lecturers’ prot!eg!es
47% (44) 35% (33) 43% (34)
34% (32) 53% (50) 45% (36)
19% (18) 12% (11) 12% (10)
Male position Men get more attention than women Men threaten women’s position
29% (27) 51% (48)
17% (16) 31% (29)
Men Are cheerfulness and laugh and laugh Men cause anxiety and insecurity to woman
25% (24) 78% (73)
44% (41) 20% (19)
(41.5%/39) or moderately equally (41.5%/39) were sources of envy, but according to 58% (54), evaluation was fair. The ‘‘reserved lecturer’’ factor focused on such matters as compensatory studies. The student nurses knew who to ask about unclear things, but the lecturer was reserved. Advice on unclear things was obtained best by the students who did not have previous vocational training (83%/25). The ‘‘skilful lecturer’’ factor referred to lecturers respected and admired by student nurses, their reciprocal appreciation of student nurses, and decision-making skills. It seemed that 39% (37) of the student nurses respected lecturers. According to 40% (38), the best thanks for studying hard was the lecturer’s appreciation. One-third of the students felt that they were involved in the lecturers’ decision-making, and 20% (19) also admired their lecturers. The ‘‘sincere lecturer’’ factor referred to open discussion and problem-solving within the learning group. Open discussion seemed to be common, because 65%
(20) (19) (18) (15) (13) (14) (13) (13) (11) (11) (11)
54% (51) 18% (17) 31% (29) 2% (2)
(61) of the student nurses mentioned it. It seemed that problem-solving requires more debate to be efficient. Lecturers’ influence on student nurses’ envy and the quality of their opinions is shown in Table 5. 5.4. Coping with envy Half of the respondents were of the opinion that a good person does not feel envy (47). Half of those with previous vocational training thought it unwise to praise themselves. Of those without previous vocational training, 73% (22) brought out their good points. Coping with envy was reflected by two factors, which were labelled as (1) sharing and (2) speechlessness. The explanatory proportion of these factors was 46.3%. The majority of those without previous vocational training (90%/27) shared their pleasure, while only half (54%/21) of those with a previous nursing training and only a third of those with some previous vocational training (36%/16) did so. The ‘‘speechlessness’’ factor showed that a good person does not feel envy and that there
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Table 5 Lecturers’ influence on nursing students’ envy and the quality of students’ opinions Lecturers’ influence on nursing students’ envy Bubble The requirements applied are not equal. Planning meetings are arranged regularly. The lecturer has the most responsibility for a student’s education. I know what lecturer expect from me. Framework The decisions made in planning meetings are adhered to. Lecturers treat students fairly. Evaluation has been fair for me. Reserved lecturer Compensatory studies are credited in the same way for every student. The student knows who to ask about unclear things. Lecturers are reserved.
Different opinion
Roughly similar opinion
Same opinion
21% (20) 37% (35) 30% (28)
13% (12) 21% (20) 20% (19)
66% (62) 42% (39) 50% (47)
49% (46)
29% (27)
22% (21)
68% (64) 41.5% (39) 22% (21)
20% (19) 41.5% (39) 20% (19)
12% (11) 17% (16) 58% (54)
40% (38)
18% (17)
42% (39)
13% (12) 28% (26)
20% (19) 36% (34)
67% (63) 36%(34)
Skilful lecturer I respect my lecturer’s teaching skills. The best thanks from studying is the lecturer’s appreciation. Students’ opinions are taken into consideration by lecturers when making decisions. I admire a lecturer who assumes responsibility for my group.
15% (14) 27% (25) 22% (21)
46% (43) 33% (31) 42% (39)
39% (37) 40% (38) 36% (34)
38% (36)
42% (39)
20% (19)
Sincere We discuss openly all things in our learning group. We solve problems in our learning group.
14% (13 26.5% (25)
21% (20) 47% (44)
65%(61) 26.5% (25)
were no rumours in the educational group. The majority of those without previous vocational training (70%/21) and half of those with previous nursing training (49%/ 19) thought that there were no rumours in the educational group. The content areas pertaining to the student’s sense of self in the educational community, the objects of envy, the lecturer’s influence on envy and coping with envy are shown compiled in Fig. 1, which presents the major findings.
6. Discussion The essence of envy in a nurse education community was connected with the nursing students’ sense of self, the objects of envy, the lecturers’ influence on envy and the ways of coping with envy. This study helped to outline three nursing education groups, which were ‘‘no previous vocational training’’, ‘‘previous vocational training’’ and ‘‘previous nursing training’’. In these groups, student nurses had different opinions about the nurse education community and the presence of envy in it. Also, male students were a group which received more
attention than females, probably because there are fewer men than women in the nurse education community. Williams (1995) has also mentioned that male nurses are treated better than female nurses. Especially the students without vocational training considered their sense of self-good in the nurse education community. It was surprising that half of the student nurses with some previous vocational training found it difficult to co-operate with their fellow students. It seemed that individual success is valued more than collective success in the nurse education community, because an individual examination was best according to a majority of the students with previous nursing training. Group examinations were considered best by the nursing students without previous vocational training. It seemed that it was difficult for the students who had some experience of nursing or some other profession to share their professional knowledge. Nelms (1990) has also pointed out that sharing is not encouraged in the educational community. It seems that professional socialisation through nursing education (Toit DLitt and Phil, 1995) does not always indicate shared learning, which may be beneficial
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Society Organisational culture Student′s sense of self: I am OK, I am sincere, I am an outsider (42.1%)
Coping with envy: Sharing Speechlessness Rumours (46.3%)
Objects of envy: You have, I haven′t Marks, Success Lecturer′s pet Male position Men and laughing (55.7%)
Lecturer′s influence on envy: Standards and evaluations of examinations and exercise Exemptions Treatment Flow of information (31.9%/62.1%)
Fig. 1. Essence of envy in a nurse education community. (The explanatory proportion of the whole factor is given in brackets.)
for patient care and enhance professional working relationships. Lowry (1999) pointed out that if problems are not identifying and dealt with, the situation may present difficulties for all those concerned. This study findings differ from those of Horsburgh et al. (2001), which showed that nursing and pharmacy students were groups with positive attitudes towards shared learning, while medical students did not show such attitudes. According to this study, envy emerged in situations where there was co-operation between student nurses with and without vocational training. Halldorsdottir (1990) and Appleton (1990) also pointed out that students must see themselves as part of educational success and understand the difference between personal and collective contributions. It was surprising that more support was needed by student nurses with previous vocational training in this study. This finding fails to support the papers (Haith-Cooper, 2000) that show a
novice student to require more intervention than students with experience. The present student nurses felt unequally treated. Equal treatment of students in the educational community is one of the basic conditions of education (Lowe, 1993). Unequal treatment does not encourage the development of human relationships and co-operative skills in a nursing education community. It may also increase the amount of envy. In this study, most of the student nurses without previous vocational training shared their success to cope with envy. It was also noteworthy that half of the respondents coped with envy by hiding. Hiding envy is associated with the subconscious quality of envy (Walcot, 1978) or a fear of including it among the characteristics of a nurse (Toit DLitt and Phil, 1995). It seemed that the notion of envy being a property that needs to be hidden is deeply rooted in the nurse education community. Cavanagh (1991) and Marriner
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and Polett (1991) also noticed that student nurses were reluctant to clear up their conflicts, but rather tried to adapt themselves to the situation and avoided open discussion.
7. Conclusions These results highlight some essential points of envy in a nurse education community and underline the need for open discussion, as emotions and envy are important to understand as part of nurse education. If envy is not identified, it may result in learning problems and also in problems of patient care. It is important to understand that envy is often hidden in the classroom context, but it must still be discussed. Foster (1972) has also pointed that envy is something that students often hide, because they have taught not to speak about it. Lecturers have a major influence on the way in which students socialise into professional nursing. Learning should involve elements that strengthen the willingness and ability for collaboration and the sense of self in being a nurse (Toit DLitt and Phil, 1995). According to this study, it seemed that, through their socialising process, student nurses also learnt to hide their own knowledge. The lack of sharing may be due to the pressure to teach in larger groups because of economic targets in Finland. Cook (1999) mentioned the same reason in her study concerning the learning strategies leading to self-awareness. Hence, in education, there may be too few opportunities to discuss and use reflection with student nurses. Reflection means that student nurses think critically about incidents and their actions in response to them (Schon, 1983; Burnard, 1995) and try to connect their actions to certain theoretical dimensions (Smith, 1998). Understanding students’ values, emotions and actions helps lecturers to clarify and structure their nursing perspective. One future challenge is to identify the traditions, customs and attitudes in the nurse education community that maintain the myth of hiding envy and strengthen individual success instead of encouraging collaboration between student nurses. Another challenge is to clarify the lecturers’ experiences of envy in the nursing community. It seems that the lack of studies on envy and its influence on learning make it difficult to elaborate the present study findings.
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Nursing Education. National League for Nursing, New York, pp. 77–93. Bacon, F., 1965. The essays of counsels, civill and moral. In: Warhaft, S. (Ed.), A Selection of His Work. Macmillan of Canada, Toronto, pp. 64–68. Berke, J., 1991. Pahan voima (The power of evil). Otava, Keuruu. Burnard, P., 1995. Nurse educators’perceptions of reflection and reflective practise: a report of a descriptive study. Journal of Advanced Nursing 21, 1167–1174. Cavanagh, S.J., 1991. The conflict management style of staff nurses and nurse managers. Journal of Advanced Nursing 16, 1254–1260. Cook, S., 1999. The self in self-awareness. Journal of Advanced Nursing 29, 1292–1299. Faris, J., 1972. The Anatomy of Envy: a Study in Symbolic Behavior. In: Current Anthropology. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, pp. 189–190. Fitzgerald, L., van Hooft, S., 2000. A Socratic dialogue on the question what is love in nursing? Nursing Ethics 7, 481–491. Floyd, J., Fowler Jr., 1989. Survey Research Methods. Applied Social Research Methods Series 1. Sage, Beverley Hills, CA. Foster, M., 1972. The Anatomy of Envy: A Study in Symbolic Behavior. In: Current Anthropology. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago, pp. 165–186. Haith-Cooper, M., 2000. Problem-based learning within health professional education. What is the role of the lecturer? A review of the literature. Nurse Education Today 20, 267–272. Halldorsdottir, S., 1990. The essential structure of a caring and uncaring encounter with a teacher: the perspective of nursing student. In: Leininger, M., Watson, J. (Eds.), The Caring Imperative in Nursing Education. National League for Nursing, New York, pp. 95–107. Heikkinen, E., Nikkonen, M., Aavarinne, H., 1998. A good person does not feel envy: envy in a nursing community. Journal of Advanced Nursing 27, 1069–1075. Hemsley-Brown, J., Foskett, N., 1999. Career desirability: young people’s perceptions of nursing as a career (experience before and throughout the nursing career). Journal of Advanced Nursing 29, 1342–1350. Horsburgh, M., Lamdin, R., Williamson, E., 2001. Multiprofessional learning: the attitudes of medical, nursing and pharmacy students to shared learning. Medical Education 35, 876–883. Hughes, L., 1993. Peer group interactions and the studentperceived climate for caring. Journal of Nursing Education 32, 78–83. Klein, M., 1994. Kateus ja kiitollisuus (Envy and Gratitude). Yliopistopaino, Helsinki. Lowe, G., 1993. The Growht of Personality from Infancy to Old Age. Penguin Books Ltd., London. Lowry, M., 1999. Dealing with problems in clinical practise. Nursing Standard 13, 43–45. Maijala, H., Munnukka, T., Nikkonen, M., 2000. Feeling of ‘‘lacking’’ as a core of envy: a conceptul analysis of envy. Journal of Advanced Nursing 31, 1342–1350. Marascuilo, L.A., Serlin, R.C., 1988. Statistical Methods for the Social and Behavioral Sciences. Freeman, New York. Marriner, T.A., Poletti, P., 1991. Strategies for managing conflict. International Nursing Rewiew 38, 118–120.
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Nelms, T.P., 1990. The lived experience of nursing education: a phenomenological study. In: Leininger, M., Watson, J. (Eds.), The Caring Imperative in Nursing Education. National League for Nursing, New York, pp. 285–297. Paterson, B., Crawford, M., 1994. Caring in nursing education: an analysis. Journal of Advanced Nursing 19, 164–173. Polit, D.F., Hungler, B.P., 1999. Nursing Research. Principles and Methods, 6th Edition). J.P. Lippincott Company, Philadelphia. Price, K.M., Cortis, J.D., 2000. The way forward for transcultural nursing. Nurse Education Today 20, 233–243. Scheler, M., 1961. Ressentiment. Free Press, New York. Schoeck, H., 1969. Envy. A Theory of Social Behaviour. Maartin Secker and Warbus Limited, London. Schon, D.A., 1983. The reflective practitioner: how professionals think in action. Basic Books, New York.
Smith, A., 1998. Learning about reflection. Journal of Advanced Nursing 28, 891–898. Teitelbaum, J.M., 1976. Tunisia. The leer and the loom—social controls on handloom weavers. In: Moloney, C. (Ed.), The Evil Eye. Columbia University Press, New York, pp. 223–279. Toit, DLitt, Phil, D., 1995. A sociological analysis of the extent and influence of professional socialization on the development of nursing identity among nursing students at two universities in brisbane, australia. Journal of Advanced Nursing 21, 164–171. Walcot, P., 1978. Envy and The Greeks. Aris and Phillips Ltd., Warminster. Williams, C.L., 1995. Hidden advantages for men in nursing. Nursing Administration Quarterly 19, 63–70.
Envy in a nurse education community Eija Heikkinena,*, Eila Latvalaa, Arja Isolab b
a Kajaani Polytechnic of Health and Welfare, P.O. Box 52, FIN-87100 Kajaani, Finland Department of Nursing and Health Administration, University of Oulu, P.O. Box 5000, 90014 Oulu, Finland
Received 21 December 2001; received in revised form 2 September 2002; accepted 10 September 2002
Abstract The definition of envy is based on views of anthropology, sociology, psychology and nursing science. According to these definitions, a nurse education community consists of shared values, customs and beliefs common in the nursing community. The purpose of this paper was to describe envy in the reciprocal relations between student nurses in a polytechnic of health and welfare in Finland. The sample consisted of 110 student nurses in one faculty of health and welfare in a Finnish polytechnic. They were selected from among the available (attending classes) students, who had been studying in the same group for 1–3 years in 1996. The response percentage was 85.5 (n ¼ 94). The data were processed by various statistical methods. The findings of envy in a nurse education community were defined through the student nurses’ views of their sense of self, their relations with their fellow students, the objects of envy and also the influence of the lecturers. The ways of coping with envy were also identified. The most common object of envy was a fellow student who worked part-time while studying. Another object of envy consisted of fellow students successful in examinations and skills, such as listening, friendships and good ideas. The students coped with their envy by sharing their own success and by denying envy. These results highlight some essential points of envy in a nurse education community and underline the need for open discussion, as emotions and envy are important to understand as part of nurse education. If envy is not identified, it may cause learning problems and even problems in patient care. r 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords: Envy; Education community of nursing; Student nurse
1. Introduction Many papers define envy through cultural forms and symbolic behaviour (Foster, 1972; Teitelbaum, 1976; Walcot, 1978), and it is also characterised as having social and unexpected social functions (Schoeck, 1969; Bacon, 1965; Foster, 1972; Faris, 1972). Envy is also defined in psychology (Klein, 1994) and nursing science (Heikkinen et al., 1998; Maijala et al., 2000). It seems that the cultural symbols of social relationships cannot be understood separately from the form of these *Corresponding author. Tel.: +358-8-61899206; fax: +3588-61899640. E-mail address: [email protected].fi (E. Heikkinen).
relationships (Faris, 1972). The essence of envy is difficult to define because it reflects unconscious feelings, but is said to affect everyone’s life (Alberoni, 1993). The essence of envy has not been previously analysed in nursing science in relation to health care education and the nurse education community. The purpose of this paper was to describe envy in the reciprocal relations between student nurses in a polytechnic of health and welfare in Finland. A nurse education community consists of shared values, traditions, customs and attitudes, which are different from the culture of any other community. Nurse education thus combines social and educational contents (Appleton, 1990) and also ethnicity, which confers the basic identity of an individual, i.e. the sense of belonging and of self (Price and Cortis, 2000). A good
0020-7489/03/$ - see front matter r 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. PII: S 0 0 2 0 - 7 4 8 9 ( 0 2 ) 0 0 0 8 4 - 6
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nurse is considered a ‘‘fragile white sister’’ (Heikkinen et al., 1998), which implies immaculateness, moral rectitude, responsibility (Toit DLitt and Phil, 1995) and willingness to care for and help people (HemsleyBrown and Foskett, 1999). According to Fitzgerald and van Hooft (2000), theoretical knowledge of ethics and care does not necessarily make for better and more caring nurses. Student nurses will learn to care for patients if they themselves are cared for in the educational community (Paterson and Crawford, 1994; Fitzgerald and van Hooft, 2000). Such care is shown by lecturers who treat their students as equals and are genuinely interested in them (Nelms, 1990; Paterson and Crawford, 1994). Patient care may deteriorate if there is a lack of confidence, unsound competition or a lot of envy in the educational community or in nursing practice. Through a process of collaboration and dialogue (Fitzgerald and van Hooft, 2000), students’ co-operative and individual responsibilities for their education are accentuated (Nelms, 1990). This study describes the nature, manifestation and amount of envy among student nurses in one polytechnic of health and welfare in Finland. The findings will be presented in the following order: the student’s sense of self, objects of envy among fellow students, influence of lecturers on the students’ envy, and the students’ ways of coping with envy.
2. Review of the literature Envy is closely associated with certain emotions. A person feels envy for something that belongs to another person and jealousy for something that belongs to him/ herself (Walcot, 1978; Foster, 1972). According to Scheler (1961), resentment develops through a revengemalice-envy-malevolence and disparagement stimulus. Envy is manifested as resentment when the revengeful and malicious feelings are subdued. Resentment is synonymous to embitterment, because both feelings represent a generalised, long-term and pessimistic attitude towards life. There is a feeling of malicious pleasure between a disparagement stimulus and malice. Envy and greed are associated with each other cyclically; a greedy person is envied, because he/she continuously wants more, which leads the envious person towards greed. The greedy person wants to have as much as possible to remain free from the feeling of emptiness but never gets enough. An envious person always thinks that other people have more. (Berke, 1991; Klein, 1994). According to Foster (1972), Teitelbaum (1976) and Walcot (1978), envy is defined as a pan-human phenomenon, which is abundantly present in every society and, to a greater or lesser extent, in every human being. In every society, people use symbolic and
nonsymbolic cultural forms whose function is to neutralise or otherwise control the dangers they see stemming from envy and especially their fear of envy. The evil eye has been associated with envy throughout centuries in many cultures. The evil eye has the power to harm or to cast a spell through an evil glance. The evil eye can be used consciously or subconsciously. A basic assumption of this study is that a nurse education community consists of shared meanings, values, attitudes and beliefs, of which aspects of envy are involved in the organisational culture. The essence of envy in a nurse education community is also shaped by the student nurses’ sense of self, the objects of envy in nurse education, the lecturer’s influence on envy and the ways of coping with envy. According to Klein (1994) and Alberoni (1993), human self-esteem affects the experience of envy. If a person has a good self-esteem, he/she is able to value him/herself and respect his/her own feelings and opinions. A person with poor self-esteem is in constant need of other people’s attention in order to manage with his/her life. Envy is defined to be strongest in relation to an equal and also when a person close to the envious one has reached a goal in his/her life or won in a competition. The major objects of envy in nursing practise in Finland were the fellow workers’ salary, the supervisor’s favourites and prot!eg!es and other people’s skills (Heikkinen et al., 1998). Another person’s prosperity or prestige caused speechlessness, rage and powerlessness (Klein, 1994; Alberoni, 1993). The fear of being personally envied and the fear to admit being envious overcame the recognition of envy as a positive force in, for example, personal growth or the development of a community (Foster, 1972). The core experience of envy among psychiatric nurses in Finland was defined as a ‘‘lacking’’, and the object of envy as something good possessed by someone else (Maijala et al., 2000). The next important aspect is that envy is sometimes present in a group. A community can be divided into groups of educated and untrained, quiet and talkative people. People feel safe when they belong to a group whose membership indicates that the members value the same things. Sometimes a group competes with another group (Foster, 1972). When group members compete as individuals, they do not want to share their own knowledge, information and themselves with the others. They do not borrow notes or help in co-operation. They compete in performance with the other members (Hughes, 1993). When envy is present in a group, the members try to hide their skills, because they are afraid of being objects of envy (Foster, 1972). If nurse students hide their skills, they cannot do their best in caring or in education. The nurse lecturer’s role in the educational community may have an influence on student nurses’ envy. Lecturers have an effect on students through their
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personal attitudes, which are manifested in their behaviour and their way to communicate information. The activity of education is influenced by the values that are currently important in society and the way in which these are transmitted to the students (Paterson and Crawford, 1994). An envious person tries to cope with envy by denying the envied value, telling unpleasant things about the object of envy or daydreaming. Some people cope with envy by means of social reaction. In sublimation, envy is veiled in morality or social resentment (Foster, 1972; Berke, 1991; Alberoni, 1993). In nursing practice in Finland, the employees coped with their envy by not speaking about it (Heikkinen et al., 1998). The person who feels envy cannot tell others about it, because he/ she is ashamed (Klein, 1994; Alberoni, 1993). Sometimes a scapegoat is needed when a community tries to protect itself from a hard thing, e.g. guilt. The scapegoat may be a member of the community or an outsider, and he or she may differ in some respect from the other members (Schoeck, 1969).
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Table 1 Background variables of respondents Background variables
N
(%)
Gender Female Male
86 8
91.5 8.5
Age 20–29 30–39 >40
78 14 2
83 15 2
39
41.5
Previous training Previous nursing training (basic course in welfare and health care: e.g. assistant nurse or home help) Previous vocational training (e.g. commercial training) No previous vocational training
25
26.6
30
31.9
Marital status Married or cohabiting Single Divorced
48 44 2
51 47 2
3. Aims of the study The aim of this study was to find out and clarify aspects of envy in the reciprocal relations between student nurses in a polytechnic of health and welfare in Finland. Answers were sought to the following questions: 1. What kind of sense of self does the student nurse have in the educational community? 2. What are the objects of envy among student nurses? 3. What kind of influence does the lecturer have on student nurses’ feelings of envy? 4. What defence mechanisms are used by student nurses to cope with envy?
4. Research methods The sample consisted of 110 student nurses in a Finnish polytechnic of health and welfare. The response percentage was 85.5 (n ¼ 94). The respondents were selected from among the available (attending classes) students, who had been studying in the same group for 1–3 years. The average respondent was a 23-year-old (20–45 years) female student who was cohabiting or married. The background variables are shown in Table 1. It was emphasised to all respondents that their anonymity was guaranteed and that all information would be considered confidential. It was explained that the answers would be used for research purposes. The data were collected in May 1996 by means of a
questionnaire addressing the essence of envy on the basis of relevant literature and research. The instrument was specifically designed for this study, but an instrument elaborated for a nursing community was used as the basis. It turned out in the nursing community survey that people could not be asked about feelings of envy directly, because the respondents almost completely denied its existence. Therefore, the items were constructed in such a way that envy was not mentioned as a concept. (Heikkinen et al., 1998). The measuring instrument elaborated for nursing communities was pre-tested three times (n ¼ 30) in different nursing communities, and the present instrument was tested once (n ¼ 15) to ensure its validity and reliability. The variables were classified as none, moderate and strong envy (see Floyd and Fowler, 1989; Polit and Hungler, 1999). The questionnaire consisted of 89 questions, of which 81 were statements, and the student’s age, gender, marital status and earlier vocational training were elicited. Based on the statements, a description was outlined of the respondent’s sense of self in the educational community, their objects of envy, the lecturers’ influence on student nurses’ envy and the defence mechanisms used in coping with envy. The frequency and percentage distributions and medians were calculated from the background variables of the research data. The connections between the variables were analysed using Spearman’s sequence correlation and cross-tabulation. The summarised variables were formulated on the basis of the statements.
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The internal consistency of the summarised variables was evaluated by using Cronbach’s reliability coefficient alpha. Factor analysis was carried out with the polar axis method, and the factors created were rotated using quartimax rotation. The factors were decoded on the basis of the high factor loadings (>0.4), and a smaller number of factors were formulated on the basis of a shared name. In addition, commonality (H2) was calculated to show the extent to which the variables in question were explained by different factors. Only the connections and differences whose discovered significance was smaller than 0.05 were reported (Polit and Hungler, 1999). The structural validity of the statements concerning envy was studied with the help of factor analysis. The explanatory proportions of the factors formulated here were relatively good (42.1–62.1%). This shows that the measuring instrument actually measured the object of study (Floyd and Fowler, 1989). The factors constructed on the basis of factor analysis were named according to their contents: *
*
*
Content area 1: Student nurses’ sense of self in the educational community. Content area 2: Objects of envy among fellow student nurses. Content area 3: Lecturers’ influence on student nurses’ envy.
*
Content area 4: Coping with envy by means of defence mechanisms.
The reliability of the statements pertaining to the essence of envy was examined by analysing the internal consistency of the measuring instrument with the help of Cronbach’s alpha reliability coefficient (0.90–0.99 reliability high; 0.80–0.89 good; 0.79–0.70 medium, 0.69 or questionable). This shows the proportion of the results that represent real differences between individuals (Polit and Hungler, 1999). Cronbach’s alpha was lowest (0.1) on the items representing coping with envy. The low reliability was due to the regular distribution of the responses on the scale as well as the small number of variables. Cronbach’s alpha was highest for the items representing the object of envy (0.74), in which the number of variables was largest and the variables correlated with each other more than with the other items. The reliabilities were best on each item’s first factor, which were good (0.76–0.94). The scales of item reliabilities were also calculated (Marascuilo and Serlin, 1988; Polit and Hungler, 1999). Conclusions can be made only with regard to this sample, because the sample merely included 110 students. The study group represents the students of one Finnish polytechnic of health and welfare (Table 2).
5. Findings Table 2 Structural validity and reliability of factor analysis Factors
Explanatory proportions (%)
Cronbach’s alfa
Student’s sense of self I am OK I am sincere I am outsider
42.1 28.2 13.9 10.8
0.40 0.87 0.57 0.35
Envy of a fellow student You have, I haven’t Competition Pet Male position Men
55.7 29.3 8.5 7.0 5.1 4.0
0.74 0.94 0.55 0.66 0.56 0.27
Lecturers as causes of envy Bubble Framework Reserved lecturer Skilful lecturer Sincere lecture
62.1 20.9 15.8 11.0 7.7 7.4
0.36 0.77 0.59 0.39 0.57 0.48
Coping with envy Sharing Speechlessness
46.3 22.9 14.7
0.1 0.76 0.43
5.1. Student nurses’ sense of self in the educational community The student nurses’ position in the educational community reflected their self-knowledge (good points 54%/51, bad points 83%/78), respect (72%/68) and appreciation (80%/75). Altogether 12% (11) of the respondents felt themselves to be scapegoats. The nursing student’s sense of self was represented by three factors: (1) I am OK, (2) I am sincere, (3) I am an outsider. The overall explanatory proportion of the factors was 42.1%. The ‘‘I am OK’’ factor showed that the student accepted him/herself and co-operated with the fellow students. The ‘‘I am sincere’’ factor represented the student’s possibility to express his/her opinions in the educational group. The ‘‘I am an outsider’’ factor represented the students who felt themselves impersonal. Some interesting differences between the students without any vocational training, with previous vocational training and with previous nursing training are shown in Table 3. It seemed that the student nurses without previous vocational training considered their sense of self-good in the nurse education community, while the students with previous vocational training (e.g. commercial training) considered themselves outsiders. According to these findings,
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Table 3 Student’s sense of self and vocational training Student’s sense of self/vocational background
No previous vocational training (n ¼ 30)
Previous vocational training (n ¼ 25)
Previous nursing training (%) (n ¼ 39)
I am OK Ambitious co-operative accepting him/herself Responsible for one’s own studies
80% 77% 87% 90%
40% 36% 36% 40%
51% 50% 52% 39%
I am sincere Expressing opinions
73% (21)
52% (13)
28% (11)
I am an outsider Feelings of evil eyes
27% (8)
72% (18)
49% (19)
(24) (23) (26) (27)
the student nurses with previous vocational training were the least sincere when expressing their opinions in the group. 5.2. Envy of a fellow nursing student According to the results, the most envied of all was a fellow student nurse who was working while studying, because part-time jobs are not easy to find in Finland. The fellow students who got better marks in examinations were also envied. Third on the list came the fellow students who were more intelligent than the respondent. The following five factors indicated the objects of envy: (1) you have, I have not, (2) competition, (3) pet, (4) male position, and (5) men. The explanatory proportion of these factors was 55.7%. The ‘‘you have, I haven’t’’ factor represented a fellow student’s property that caused envy. 40%(12) of the students who did not have previous working experience (n ¼ 30) envied moderately and 32.5%(10) strongly those who had such experience (n ¼ 54). It also seemed that skills, such as good listening skills, friendships or the ability to produce new ideas, were envied. The competition factor reflected envy pertaining to students’ success in studying. The most diligent students were students with previous vocational training (84%/ 21). Group examinations were considered good by the students without previous vocational training (62%/19). Individual examinations were best according to 58% (23) of the respondents with previous nursing trained. Competition and hiding tendencies were related. It seemed that a fellow student’s success encouraged one, but success was appreciated most in an individual examination. The ‘‘pet’’ factor pertained to lecturers’ favourites, prote! ge! s and fellow students’ talent. The ‘‘male position’’ factor referred to the tendency of men to get more
(7) (9) (9) (10)
(21) (20) (21) (15)
attention and to have a better position than females in a student group. The ‘‘men’’ factor was also related to cheerfulness and laughing. It seemed that male students had a different position in the nurse education group because of their gender and sex. Those cohabiting or married thought (48) that there was some (43.8%/21) or plenty of (42%/20) cheerfulness in the educational community. Envy of the fellow student is shown in Table 4. 5.3. Lecturers’ influence on student nurses’ envy The things concerning lecturers as causes of envy loaded on five factors: (1) bubble, (2) framework, (3) reserved lecturer, (4) skilful lecturer, and (5) sincere lecturer. The explanatory proportion of these factors was 62.1%. The ‘‘bubble’’ factor included things concerning the application of equal requirements, regularly planning meetings, and the lecturers’ responsibility for the students’ study achievement. The factor indicated that the requirements applied to students were different. According to 79.5% (31) of the respondents with previous nursing training or previous vocational training (80%/20), the requirements applied were not equal. The lecturers’ responsibility for the students’ study achievement was considered most significant by the respondents with some previous vocational training (72%/18) and those with previous nursing training (61.5%/24). It was an interesting point that half of the respondents (47) felt that the lecturers had the most responsibility for the students’ professional education. The ‘‘framework’’ factor included things concerning the lecturers’ decision-making, management of student nurses and evaluation. There seemed to be problems concerning decision-making because 68% (64) of the student nurses felt that decisions were not adhered to. The lecturers who treated student nurses unequally
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Table 4 Envy of a fellow student and feeling of envy Envy of fellow student/feeling of envy
None
Moderate
Strong
You have I haven’t Has holidays abroad Has working experience Is intelligent Is a good listener Has new clothes Won a large sum of money Is friendly with everyone Is popular among the other students Is working while studying Has new ideas Is good-looking
42% 50% 48% 58% 45% 51% 53% 58% 31% 42% 55%
(39) (47) (45) (52) (40) (47) (50) (53) (29) (39) (52)
37% 30% 33% 25% 40% 34% 33% 28% 57% 46% 33%
(35) (28) (31) (23) (35) (31) (31) (25) (54) (42) (31)
21% 20% 19% 17% 15% 15% 14% 14% 12% 12% 12%
Competition More hard-working than the other student Other students’ success A team exam is better than an individual exam Better marks in examinations
17% 13% 35% 33%
(16) (12) (33) (31)
29% 34% 43% 46%
(27) (32) (40) (43)
54% (51) 53% (50) 22% (21) 21%(20)
Pet Lecturers’ favourite Smarter than me Lecturers’ prot!eg!es
47% (44) 35% (33) 43% (34)
34% (32) 53% (50) 45% (36)
19% (18) 12% (11) 12% (10)
Male position Men get more attention than women Men threaten women’s position
29% (27) 51% (48)
17% (16) 31% (29)
Men Are cheerfulness and laugh and laugh Men cause anxiety and insecurity to woman
25% (24) 78% (73)
44% (41) 20% (19)
(41.5%/39) or moderately equally (41.5%/39) were sources of envy, but according to 58% (54), evaluation was fair. The ‘‘reserved lecturer’’ factor focused on such matters as compensatory studies. The student nurses knew who to ask about unclear things, but the lecturer was reserved. Advice on unclear things was obtained best by the students who did not have previous vocational training (83%/25). The ‘‘skilful lecturer’’ factor referred to lecturers respected and admired by student nurses, their reciprocal appreciation of student nurses, and decision-making skills. It seemed that 39% (37) of the student nurses respected lecturers. According to 40% (38), the best thanks for studying hard was the lecturer’s appreciation. One-third of the students felt that they were involved in the lecturers’ decision-making, and 20% (19) also admired their lecturers. The ‘‘sincere lecturer’’ factor referred to open discussion and problem-solving within the learning group. Open discussion seemed to be common, because 65%
(20) (19) (18) (15) (13) (14) (13) (13) (11) (11) (11)
54% (51) 18% (17) 31% (29) 2% (2)
(61) of the student nurses mentioned it. It seemed that problem-solving requires more debate to be efficient. Lecturers’ influence on student nurses’ envy and the quality of their opinions is shown in Table 5. 5.4. Coping with envy Half of the respondents were of the opinion that a good person does not feel envy (47). Half of those with previous vocational training thought it unwise to praise themselves. Of those without previous vocational training, 73% (22) brought out their good points. Coping with envy was reflected by two factors, which were labelled as (1) sharing and (2) speechlessness. The explanatory proportion of these factors was 46.3%. The majority of those without previous vocational training (90%/27) shared their pleasure, while only half (54%/21) of those with a previous nursing training and only a third of those with some previous vocational training (36%/16) did so. The ‘‘speechlessness’’ factor showed that a good person does not feel envy and that there
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Table 5 Lecturers’ influence on nursing students’ envy and the quality of students’ opinions Lecturers’ influence on nursing students’ envy Bubble The requirements applied are not equal. Planning meetings are arranged regularly. The lecturer has the most responsibility for a student’s education. I know what lecturer expect from me. Framework The decisions made in planning meetings are adhered to. Lecturers treat students fairly. Evaluation has been fair for me. Reserved lecturer Compensatory studies are credited in the same way for every student. The student knows who to ask about unclear things. Lecturers are reserved.
Different opinion
Roughly similar opinion
Same opinion
21% (20) 37% (35) 30% (28)
13% (12) 21% (20) 20% (19)
66% (62) 42% (39) 50% (47)
49% (46)
29% (27)
22% (21)
68% (64) 41.5% (39) 22% (21)
20% (19) 41.5% (39) 20% (19)
12% (11) 17% (16) 58% (54)
40% (38)
18% (17)
42% (39)
13% (12) 28% (26)
20% (19) 36% (34)
67% (63) 36%(34)
Skilful lecturer I respect my lecturer’s teaching skills. The best thanks from studying is the lecturer’s appreciation. Students’ opinions are taken into consideration by lecturers when making decisions. I admire a lecturer who assumes responsibility for my group.
15% (14) 27% (25) 22% (21)
46% (43) 33% (31) 42% (39)
39% (37) 40% (38) 36% (34)
38% (36)
42% (39)
20% (19)
Sincere We discuss openly all things in our learning group. We solve problems in our learning group.
14% (13 26.5% (25)
21% (20) 47% (44)
65%(61) 26.5% (25)
were no rumours in the educational group. The majority of those without previous vocational training (70%/21) and half of those with previous nursing training (49%/ 19) thought that there were no rumours in the educational group. The content areas pertaining to the student’s sense of self in the educational community, the objects of envy, the lecturer’s influence on envy and coping with envy are shown compiled in Fig. 1, which presents the major findings.
6. Discussion The essence of envy in a nurse education community was connected with the nursing students’ sense of self, the objects of envy, the lecturers’ influence on envy and the ways of coping with envy. This study helped to outline three nursing education groups, which were ‘‘no previous vocational training’’, ‘‘previous vocational training’’ and ‘‘previous nursing training’’. In these groups, student nurses had different opinions about the nurse education community and the presence of envy in it. Also, male students were a group which received more
attention than females, probably because there are fewer men than women in the nurse education community. Williams (1995) has also mentioned that male nurses are treated better than female nurses. Especially the students without vocational training considered their sense of self-good in the nurse education community. It was surprising that half of the student nurses with some previous vocational training found it difficult to co-operate with their fellow students. It seemed that individual success is valued more than collective success in the nurse education community, because an individual examination was best according to a majority of the students with previous nursing training. Group examinations were considered best by the nursing students without previous vocational training. It seemed that it was difficult for the students who had some experience of nursing or some other profession to share their professional knowledge. Nelms (1990) has also pointed out that sharing is not encouraged in the educational community. It seems that professional socialisation through nursing education (Toit DLitt and Phil, 1995) does not always indicate shared learning, which may be beneficial
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Society Organisational culture Student′s sense of self: I am OK, I am sincere, I am an outsider (42.1%)
Coping with envy: Sharing Speechlessness Rumours (46.3%)
Objects of envy: You have, I haven′t Marks, Success Lecturer′s pet Male position Men and laughing (55.7%)
Lecturer′s influence on envy: Standards and evaluations of examinations and exercise Exemptions Treatment Flow of information (31.9%/62.1%)
Fig. 1. Essence of envy in a nurse education community. (The explanatory proportion of the whole factor is given in brackets.)
for patient care and enhance professional working relationships. Lowry (1999) pointed out that if problems are not identifying and dealt with, the situation may present difficulties for all those concerned. This study findings differ from those of Horsburgh et al. (2001), which showed that nursing and pharmacy students were groups with positive attitudes towards shared learning, while medical students did not show such attitudes. According to this study, envy emerged in situations where there was co-operation between student nurses with and without vocational training. Halldorsdottir (1990) and Appleton (1990) also pointed out that students must see themselves as part of educational success and understand the difference between personal and collective contributions. It was surprising that more support was needed by student nurses with previous vocational training in this study. This finding fails to support the papers (Haith-Cooper, 2000) that show a
novice student to require more intervention than students with experience. The present student nurses felt unequally treated. Equal treatment of students in the educational community is one of the basic conditions of education (Lowe, 1993). Unequal treatment does not encourage the development of human relationships and co-operative skills in a nursing education community. It may also increase the amount of envy. In this study, most of the student nurses without previous vocational training shared their success to cope with envy. It was also noteworthy that half of the respondents coped with envy by hiding. Hiding envy is associated with the subconscious quality of envy (Walcot, 1978) or a fear of including it among the characteristics of a nurse (Toit DLitt and Phil, 1995). It seemed that the notion of envy being a property that needs to be hidden is deeply rooted in the nurse education community. Cavanagh (1991) and Marriner
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and Polett (1991) also noticed that student nurses were reluctant to clear up their conflicts, but rather tried to adapt themselves to the situation and avoided open discussion.
7. Conclusions These results highlight some essential points of envy in a nurse education community and underline the need for open discussion, as emotions and envy are important to understand as part of nurse education. If envy is not identified, it may result in learning problems and also in problems of patient care. It is important to understand that envy is often hidden in the classroom context, but it must still be discussed. Foster (1972) has also pointed that envy is something that students often hide, because they have taught not to speak about it. Lecturers have a major influence on the way in which students socialise into professional nursing. Learning should involve elements that strengthen the willingness and ability for collaboration and the sense of self in being a nurse (Toit DLitt and Phil, 1995). According to this study, it seemed that, through their socialising process, student nurses also learnt to hide their own knowledge. The lack of sharing may be due to the pressure to teach in larger groups because of economic targets in Finland. Cook (1999) mentioned the same reason in her study concerning the learning strategies leading to self-awareness. Hence, in education, there may be too few opportunities to discuss and use reflection with student nurses. Reflection means that student nurses think critically about incidents and their actions in response to them (Schon, 1983; Burnard, 1995) and try to connect their actions to certain theoretical dimensions (Smith, 1998). Understanding students’ values, emotions and actions helps lecturers to clarify and structure their nursing perspective. One future challenge is to identify the traditions, customs and attitudes in the nurse education community that maintain the myth of hiding envy and strengthen individual success instead of encouraging collaboration between student nurses. Another challenge is to clarify the lecturers’ experiences of envy in the nursing community. It seems that the lack of studies on envy and its influence on learning make it difficult to elaborate the present study findings.
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