A Dundee author is among a number of academics whose research suggests that universities may be selecting the wrong people to become nurses.
An article in the journal Nurse Education Today (PDF) highlighted the “compassion deficit” and urged those in nursing education to consider their role in preventing care failures such as the Mid-Staffordshire scandal.
Four patients died at Stafford Hospital between 2005 and 2014 and the local trust faces health and safety breach charges.
The article was co-written by Robin Ion from Abertay University as well as academics from four other Scottish universities.
Mr Ion’s research draws comparisons with political theorist Hannah Arendt, who uses Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann’s trial as an example of how large numbers of people can become complicit in morally wrong activities.
He said: “When Arendt used Eichmann’s trial as a paradigmatic case for how large numbers of people can become complicit in morally reprehensible activities, she said that he possessed ‘the inability to think’.”
Mr Ion explained that although Eichmann was intelligent, he focused on finding the most efficient way to carry out his orders, without thinking about the effects of what he was doing.
He believes something similar happened at Mid-Staffordshire NHS trust.
He said: “At Mid-Staffs, there was a single-minded focus on reaching targets and meeting goals cost-efficiently, which meant that those in their care were left out of the equation and only considered as an after-thought, or more often than not forgotten about completely.”
Dr Rosie Stenhouse, lead author of the article, said: “There is no question that, in most cases, the care provided by nurses is very good. Compassion is at the heart of what we do.
“But we can’t ignore the fact that poor care does exist.”