Explaining the practicum experiences of pre-registration nursing students in Hong Kong using the theory of human relatedness

The purpose of this study was to establish whether application of the four states of relatedness (connectedness, disconnectedness, enmeshment, and parallelism) and four processes or social competencies (belonging, reciprocity, mutuality, and synchrony) within the theory of human relatedness may have relevance and transferability to the practicum experiences of an international nursing student population. Secondary data transcriptions derived from focus groups involving 20 final-year pre-registration nursing undergraduates at an academic institution in Hong Kong which directly examined their placement reflections and views were analyzed against the states of relatedness and process or social competences identified within this theory. Data from the study provided evidence to support every state of relatedness and process or social competency within the theory of human relatedness. Evaluating pre-registration nursing student placement experiences against this theory suggests that improving a practicum may necessitate creating conditions for workplace learning which more effectively foster connectedness, belonging, reciprocity, mutuality, and synchrony, minimize the need for parallelism and help prevent disconnectedness and enmeshment.