AbstractsPsychology

The purpose of this study was to find out the experience of the voluntary nursing students and their sources of motivation for volunteering in a nursing home. The aim of this study was to evaluate the outcome of this pilot volunteer project in a health care facility by a group of nurse trainees and make recommendations to future students who might want to continue the project or start a similar project. Qualitative research method was used for the study that focused on the participants’ narratives and descriptiveness of events as a result of their observations coupled with their own interpretations. It also focused on group and cognitive interviews, which were useful to collect data on the experiences and responses of participants. The group interview was conducted in April, 2014 and data collected was analyzed by using thematic analysis. The results of the research showed that the participants had challenging experiences but interesting one in volunteering at the nursing home. Language barrier, less interaction with nurses, organization problems and inadequate information were some of the challenging experiences. Experiences that were beneficial were new experience, career development, building confidence, and the opportunity to practice and learn Finnish culture. The findings also revealed several motivational factors to start and continue volunteering and what caused diminished motivation among the participants. Some of the factors were desire to help, to contribute to the society, to practice nursing procedures, and time flexibility and no time. Orientation, a more recognized group, Finnish students’ involvement, work and rules specification, well organized activities were some of the recommendation for future development. The research was limited to only the experiences of unpaid staff or volunteers. Future researchers could therefore find out the experiences of all the stakeholders in order to provide a holistic picture.;