Windows and mirrors: Reflections of a module team teaching the arts in nurse education

SummaryThe five-year experience of a group of nursing lecturers teaching the expressive arts within a Scottish degree programme is outlined and discussed. The place of the arts is contextualised within curriculum developments and module content, sequencing, thematic development, mode of delivery, assessment, student evaluation and pedagogical approaches are all addressed. Relationship to practice is discussed in terms of the art of nursing, reflection, ethics and spirituality. Future developments are discussed in terms of drawing upon the wider resources of the humanities, rather than merely expressivist sources of art. The paper concludes by encouraging the teaching of the arts in nurse education to remain responsive to practice issues and to consideration of students’ learning needs.