Continuity from adult-nursing practice to clinical training: Reviewing students’ clinical training experience

Abstract

Objective: In this study, we analyzed a sample of nursing students, focusing on their self-directed learning experiences as they completed a program comprising specialized exercises and examinations and clinical training. Through this, we aimed to identify means of improving nurses’ self-directed learning skills during nursing education.

Methods: Sixty-six third-year university students underwent a six-week adult-nursing training involving participatory-type simulated-patient (SP) exercises and objective structured clinical examinations (OSCEs), during which they maintained portfolios in which they noted their experiences and thoughts as they engaged in this education. We analyzed, through qualitative induction, the written data in these portfolios. We followed this by cross-sectionally integrating, using a chronological perspective, experiences reported by the same sample in previous research, consequently clarifying the structure of the students’ self-directed learning.

Results: The students’ self-directed learning experiences during the adult-nursing training were divided into six classifications. Comparison of self-directed learning in participatory-type SP exercises, OSCE, and training, respectively, showed that few students applied their experience of the SP and OCSE exercises in training. However, during training they showed a strong ability to independently perform reviews of challenges that arose in actual practice and to engage in collaboration. They also showed increased desire to perform nursing.

Conclusions: As the exercises and practice were not conducted consecutively, external experiences may have affected the continuity of the education, and hindered the students’ ability to maintain a sense of continuous development. Thus, encouraging students to regularly review their education may enhance their self-directed learning skills.