Comparing Teaching Practices about Humor among Nursing Faculty: An International Collaborative Study

Abstract

Humor has been recognized by nurse researchers as a therapeutic intervention known to have positive psychological and physiological outcomes for patients. There is, however, no research that examines how nurses learn about humor. The purpose of this preliminary study was to examine nursing faculty members' teaching practices about humor education in the classroom and in clinical settings. Nursing faculty members from four nursing programs, two in the United States, one in Northern Ireland, and one in Taiwan, were surveyed about the inclusion of humor in the nursing curriculum. Findings revealed that substantially more humor education was included in clinical settings in the USA and Northern Ireland than in the classroom. In Taiwan, however, humor education was included more in the classroom than in clinical settings. Older and more experienced nurses with higher levels of education reported using less humor in teaching practices.