Autoethnography in Nursing Education: An Integrative Review of Methodological Variants, Quality Practices, and Ethical Considerations (2010-2025).

Abstract

Autoethnography is increasingly used in nursing education research to examine the relational, embodied, and often hidden dimensions of teaching, learning, and professional socialization. Yet uneven use of variant-sensitive approaches, quality frameworks, and ethics reporting suggests continuing methodological inconsistency. We conducted an integrative review of autoethnographic nursing education literature published between 2010 and 2025, examining five dimensions: (1) variant definitions and operationalization, (2) quality appraisal frameworks, (3) reflexivity and positionality practices, (4) credibility strategies, and (5) ethical procedures, including attention to implicated others. Systematic searches of CINAHL, MEDLINE, ERIC, Scopus, ScienceDirect, and Web of Science yielded 23 eligible studies. Collaborative autoethnography predominated (56%), and several studies, especially those examining the experiences of racially minoritized faculty, explicitly positioned autoethnography as a decolonizing approach and demonstrated stronger reported reflexive practices. Reflexivity, as represented in published manuscripts, ranged from integrated positionality analyses that informed analytic decisions to brief, largely token acknowledgment. Findings suggest that nursing education scholarship may benefit from a fit-for-variant approach to appraisal and clearer field expectations for relational ethics reporting, especially given power differentials when faculty write about students, colleagues, and institutions. More explicit linking of standpoint to analysis may advance methodological transparency and interpretive credibility.