Studentenes læring av praktiske ferdigheter i modellavdelingen og klinikken;en utforskende studie

Practical skills are central in nursing. The focus in existing research has mainly been on isolated manual-technical aspects of skill. When viewing practical nursing skills as integrated manual-technical-relational skills, both learning and transfer of them into the clinical setting becomes more complex. This complexity in learning is not well understood. In addition there are few studies that explore nursing students' experiences in skill learning in laboratory and clinical settings.

This article describes nursing students' learning situation, in the skills-laboratory and the clinical setting, related to the specific skill of helping the patient to eat and drink.

Data were collected by observing the students while they practiced in the skills-laboratory and in the students' first clinical placement. Individual interviews were performed after practice in the skills-laboratory and in the clinical setting.

Findings revealed that the learning environments in both settings complemented each other. During learning, the settings challenged the students in different areas. Similarity in manual-technical aspects, patient diagnosis and needs promoted transfer. The findings are discussed in relation to theory of learning, research concerning the learning situations and learning conditions in the skills-laboratory and the clinical setting, and transfer of knowledge.