Contributors: Dr. Francisco Javier Arroyo Cruz and
Students of 402 Care Bioethics,
Escuela Superior de Tlahuelilpan UAEH.
How do we ensure that nursing education goes beyond theoretical rote learning? Traditionally, we turn to textbooks, analyze principles within a classroom setting, and hope students can apply them later in clinical practice. However, nursing care—especially the care of older adults—is not an abstract concept. Care occurs in the encounter with the other, in shared vulnerability, and in understanding the realities experienced by individuals (Eustace, 2020).
With this premise, an experiential learning activity titled “Caring for the Years: University Visions on the Relationship Between Nursing and Older Adults” was designed. The objective was simple yet challenging: to take students out of the classroom and connect them with social reality through active listening (Lindell & Chinn, 2024). Organized into teams, they went out to interview three key stakeholders on how they perceive the relationship between nursing and older adults: a nursing student, a faculty member of the discipline, and an individual completely unrelated to our profession.
The result was not a statistical report, but rather a mosaic of perspectives that invites us to rethink how we are educating for gerontological care and how we approach effective teaching across the nursing curriculum.
The Faculty Perspective: Breaking Classroom Walls
As an academic, my goal with this activity was to provoke a pedagogical and methodological breakthrough. Many core courses in nursing are often perceived by students as strictly theoretical or detached from everyday human reality. However, when we speak of vulnerable populations, real-world challenges revolve around a daily threatened dignity: ageism, the loss of autonomy, and social invisibility (Arroyo, 2026).
Leading students to contrast different visions forced them to confront their own biases. By listening to how the community perceives our work, we as educators can then adjust our pedagogical compass. We are not training individuals who merely follow protocols; effective teaching means forming professional nurses who maintain eye contact, respect the person’s life story, and advocate for their rights until the very last moment.
The Student Perspective: The Awakening of Empathy
Knowledge and experience are fundamental elements in our training as healthcare students, as they allow us to connect what we learn in class with real-world situations. Through clinical experiences, we can develop skills, acquire new knowledge, and understand that each individual experiences different situations, although all share a common purpose: to learn and provide adequate care.
The activity we conducted consisted of interviewing a nursing student, a professional within the nursing field, and an individual external to the healthcare area. Each participant shared experiences, knowledge, and opinions from their own perspective. This allowed us to identify different ways of thinking and to understand how physical, emotional, and social aspects influence people’s lives.
This activity was dynamic and enriching, because we not only obtained information on the topic, but we also had the opportunity to reflect on our own experiences. As nursing students, we understood that learning is not limited to textbooks and the classroom; it goes beyond that, as it is also built through the praxis of interventions, social interaction, and the experiences of others. Every experience leaves a lesson that can contribute to our professional and personal development.
Crossed Voices: Three Perspectives on the Same Care
When crossing the testimonies gathered by the teams, three deeply connected narratives emerge, yet with distinct nuances:
- The Nursing Student: Based on the narratives obtained, students consider that healthcare professionals must provide humanized care rooted in empathy, respect, patience, and tolerance when interacting with older adults. They point out that it is important to offer a close and kind approach that builds trust, thereby reducing anxiety and promoting both physical and emotional well-being. They agree that the main barrier consists of age-related prejudices and discrimination. They reject the stigmatization of aging; it should not be assumed that older adults are incapable of understanding or that they lack potential for improvement. We must reduce these actions and provide dignified, quality care.
- The Nursing Faculty Member: They considered that we must provide older adults with care based not only on their physical needs but also on their emotional well-being and dignity. Empathy and communication are fundamental to establishing a relationship of trust—listening to their experiences and understanding that each person has a unique life story. Furthermore, we must avoid prejudices and attitudes that might make them feel incapable or less important. A lack of time, communication, and understanding can hinder this relationship. We must offer humanized care, respect their decisions, and always recognize their value as individuals.
- The Individual Unrelated to the Discipline: Upon conducting the interview, we realized that from the perspective of someone who does not study nursing and is unfamiliar with the subject, certain qualities and attitudes are vital when dealing with an older adult. Among these, kindness, patience, respect, and empathy stand out prominently, as older adults may find themselves in situations that require greater attention and understanding. They also mentioned that some older adults might have difficult temperaments or need words to be repeated to them. In addition to this, they highlighted barriers within nursing staff, such as impatience or viewing the care of this population as an overwhelming obligation. As nurses, we must keep in mind that our treatment influences their well-being; we must speak with respect, listen to them, and thus generate security and trust to provide dignified treatment and humanized care.
A final ethical reflection
If ethics is to care, it must begin where care actually happens: in relationships, in practice, and in dialogue with the community. Our experiential activity showed that dignity, empathy, and respect are not abstract principles to be memorized in a classroom; they are lived commitments forged in encounters with older adults and in listening to diverse voices. While bioethics has much to offer in defending human vulnerability and dignity, nursing draws also on a distinct and longstanding tradition, nursing ethics, rooted in virtue, pragmatism, and relational practice (Lindell & Chinn, 2026). For gerontological education to be meaningful, we must teach students to move beyond theoretical propositions and to cultivate the habits, attentiveness, and advocacy that make person-centered care possible in the real world (see Fowler, 2024).
References
1. Rosemary Eustace, “From Novice to Expert,” Nursology, 21 de agosto de 2020, https://nursology.net/nurse-theories/from-novice-to-expert/.
2. Fowler, Marsha. Bioethics: A Tale of Unrequited Love and an Amicable Divorce». OJIN: The Online Journal of Issues in Nursing 31, n.º 3 (10 de septiembre de 2026). https://ojin.nursingworld.org/table-of-contents/volume-31-2026/number-3-september-2026/articles-on-previously-published-topics/bioethics-a-tale-of-unrequited-love-and-an-amicable-divorce/.
3. Francisco Javier Arroyo Cruz, “Beyond Signing a Form: Relational Ethics in Research with Older Adults,” Nursology, 17 de agosto de 2026, https://nursology.net/2026/08/17/beyond-signing-a-form-relational-ethics-in-research-with-older-adults/.
4. Lindell, Deborah, y Peggy Chinn. «Emancipatory and Sociopolitical Knowing». Nursology. Última modificación el 19 de enero de 2024. https://nursology.net/patterns-of-knowing-in-nursing/emancipatory-knowing/.
5. Lindell, Deborah, y Peggy Chinn. «Ethical Knowing». Nursology. Acceso el 5 de octubre de 2026. https://nursology.net/patterns-of-knowing-in-nursing/ethical-knowing/. (Nota: Como esta página no cuenta con una fecha explícita de actualización en el texto, Chicago solicita añadir la fecha de acceso).
6. Nursology: Honoring Our Heritage – Building Our Future, acceso el 30 de septiembre de 2026, https://nursology.net/.
Contributors: Dr. Francisco Javier Arroyo Cruz, Estudiantes de Bioética del Cuidado; Bárcenas Cárdenas Juridia Yazmin, Camargo Olguin Ximena Danae, Cervantes Vega Julia Valentina, Espinosa López Maria Del Carmen, Esquivel Silva Thaili, Flores Ortega Yosimar Genaro, Gonzalez Nuñez Romina Isabella, Gonzalez Patiño Zayde Adriana, Guevara Lozano Joselyn, Hernandez Mendoza Alondra Lizeth, Herrera Hernandez Sandra Yanereida, Huerta Rascon Victor Antonio, Lopez Castro Mariel Adelin, Monroy Alvarado Fernanda Apoloni, Navarrete Olguin Monserrat, Oropeza De Jesus Mariana, Ramirez Gonzalez Carol Yamile, Rosas Martínez Yoali, Sanchez Cruz Melisa Azucena, Santos Benítez Kevin Alexis, Trejo Gonzalez Aylin Lucero, Valdez Viveros Valentina, Valdivia Santamand Ivanna, Villedas Reyes Atziry Guadalupe, Zarate Hernandez Jaquelinne.
About the Contributors
As nursing undergraduate students from group 402, we are proud to belong to the Escuela Superior de Tlahuelilpan and the Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Hidalgo, experiencing mixed emotions during the creation of this document. Under the academic guidance of Dr. Francisco Javier Arroyo Cruz, we seek to transform theoretical and scientific knowledge into holistic, empathetic, and deeply human care for individuals and their communities.
Guided by the motto that rules our University: LOVE, ORDER, AND PROGRESS.
Francisco Javier Arroyo Cruz, PhD, holds a doctorate in Nursing Science and is a professor and researcher in Mexico. His work has focused on the study of aging, the care of older adults, and the development of nursing discipline knowledge. From a perspective that integrates the ethics of care and scientific research, he argues that protecting older adults in research requires going beyond regulatory compliance and recognizing their dignity, autonomy, and life context as central elements of all research practices.
Española
Francisco Javier Arroyo Cruz, PhD, es Doctor en Ciencias de Enfermería, docente e investigador en México. Su trabajo se ha centrado en el estudio del envejecimiento, el cuidado de las personas mayores y el desarrollo del conocimiento disciplinar de enfermería. Desde una perspectiva que integra la ética del cuidado y la investigación científica, sostiene que la protección de las personas mayores en investigación requiere trascender el cumplimiento normativo y reconocer su dignidad, autonomía y contexto de vida como elementos centrales de toda práctica investigativa.