Have your students check out a book or purchase a book on nursing caring and compassion. Before having students work with patients, it is important that they get a theoretical understanding of caring and compassion. They can check out several books from their local libraries, including "Compassion and Caring in Nursing," by Claire Chambers and Elaine Ryder or "Nursing & Health Survival Guide: Compassion, Caring & Communication" by Barbara Smith.
Have your students watch videos on nurse caring and compassion. These videos depict nurses interacting with patients and explain the benefits for patients of a caring nurse. For example, Video Arts offers an informational video titled "Beating 'Compassion Fatigue' in Healthcare." You can even purchase video packages on the subject, such as the packaged offered by Adventured in Caring titled "Compassion in Action Professional Edition."
Talk to fellow nursing students or instructors if you are affiliated with a nursing program. Teachers with years of experience will likely have a stock of material for you to use, or they will likely know places in your area to pick up material.
Utilize an Internet search engine to find articles, opinion pieces and other information on nursing and compassion. For example, you can search Google, Yahoo or Bing for "Nursing Care and Compassion." You can even have your students print their own material and bring it to class. The material they find will discuss different elements of caring and compassion. Having them discuss these unique perspectives is a great way to stimulate group discussion.