Could we remedy the 'crisis of care' by incorporating mandatory group psychotherapy in nurse education?

This paper suggests a tentative proposal for nurse education that may go some way to remedying the ‘crisis of care’ described by Judge Francis and others. Any viable strategy to improve caring attitudes in nursing students must involve activities across the curriculum that foster self-awareness and empathy. It is suggested that the best way to do this is for all undergraduate nursing students to participate in regular, supervised group psychotherapy sessions as a mandated requirement for registration. This strategy would be helpful in at least two main ways. First, it would be enormously beneficial in terms of promoting emotional intelligence — a necessary requirement for providing ethical, person-centred care. Second, it would also serve as an excellent form of student support, which would likely improve student retention rates. This is because individuals with strong group support systems are less likely to become mentally or physically ill and are, therefore, more resilient. Finally, some possible objections to this proposal are considered.