Extracurricular assistantship in nursing

an obligation or an option? A contradiction to be overcome

Abstract

This study tries to point out the contradictions of the extracurricular assistantship and explains how this learning influences the nurse formation. We assume this learning process can be explained by the knowledge acquiring process which is the basis of the traditional pedagogy. The dialectic method is the basis for the analysis of the interview data. Alienation and contradiction emerged as the most meaningful categories. Besides not favoring praxis, the theory/practice dichotomy, found at the graduate School and also in the assistantship, leads students to adapting and not to overcoming the conflicts experienced during the learning process. The great challenge to the Nursing School is to change the contradictions that are part of the nurse formation from a concealing to a disclosing position.