title: Uncovering nursing students' views of their relationship with educators in a university context: A descriptive qualitative study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Power dynamics is a key element in the educator-student relationship, and can be influential to the learning outcomes of students.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  Power relations are inherent in the interaction between educators and students. The educator-student relationship is still an under-explored area of power dynamics.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The aim of the study was to investigate nursing students' perceptions of the power dynamics in the educator-student relationship in a university learning context in order to offer educators some understanding of how such a relationship was perceived by students.
  
  
  METHODS
  A descriptive qualitative study using focus group inquiry.
  
  
  METHODS
  Through convenience sampling, a total of 56 students were recruited and eight focus group interviews were conducted. Thematic analysis was adopted to capture the meanings extracted from the student narratives.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Four core themes of the educator-student relationship were identified. Referring to these themes, some implications were drawn, such as the significance of the educator-student relationship; an educator's power matters; and polarized views among the students on whether or not an educator should be a friend.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The power dynamics varied depending on an educator's personality, communication skills, ability to effectively monitor large classes, and teaching style. More efforts are needed to investigate the preferred conceptions and types of educator-student relationships in order to evaluate the impact that these have on learning.
authors.affiliation: School of Nursing, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong. Electronic address: zenobia.chan@polyu.edu.hk.
authors.forename: Zenobia C Y
authors.initials: ZC
authors.lastname: Chan
authors.affiliation: School of Nursing, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong. Electronic address: wai.tong.chien@polyu.edu.hk.
authors.forename: Chien Wai
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: Tong
authors.affiliation: School of Nursing and Midwifery, Griffith University, Australia. Electronic address: s.henderson@griffith.edu.au.
authors.forename: Saras
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Henderson
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005181:Faculty, Nursing / Q000592:standards*; D005260:Female; D017144:Focus Groups; D006801:Humans; D007400:Interprofessional Relations; D008297:Male; D010465:Perception; D011209:Power, Psychological; D036301:Qualitative Research; D013338:Students, Nursing / Q000523:psychology*
keywords: Focus group interviews; Nurse education; Power; Relationship