Do Student Nurses experience a Theory-Practice Gap? A Case Study
type: CreativeWork
description: Receiving mixed messages between what they learn at university and what they observe occurring in the clinical learning environment can make learning nursing skills a difficult, challenging, and complex process for students. A theory-practice (T-P) gap has previously been acknowledged within nursing (Rolfe 2002, Maben, Latter and Macleod Clark 2006, Monaghan 2015), yet no clear definition of the concept exists. Therefore a concept analysis of the term ‘theory-practice gap’ was initially undertaken in order to seek clarification of the concept and to provide an original and operational definition for the research study that followed. This interpretivist study aimed to gain an insight from second-year nursing students regarding their experiences, if any, of a T-P gap as they learned to administer intramuscular injections (IMI). Yin’s (2003) single case study with embedded units design was used as a methodological construct for the research providing the researcher with the ability to analyse the data within, between and across the cases. Nineteen pre-registration adult nursing students subsequently attended one of four focus groups, with nine proceeding to undertake semi-structured, one–to–one, interviews. The students were asked to share their experiences of learning to administer IMIs and to explore what they believed enabled and influenced them in learning this skill. They were also asked about how they made sense of the associated nursing knowledge and practice related to giving IMIs. A documentary analysis of the IMI skills lesson plan, and relevant parts of the course handbook, was also performed. Utilising Thomas’ (2016) adapted constant comparative analysis four key themes emerged from the data, namely: i. Simulation based education; ii. Students challenging practice; iii. Cognitive dissonance; iv. Mentors’ practice and supervision. Interpretation of the results showed that a T-P gap existed, however not all students experienced cognitive dissonance as a resul…
abstract: Receiving mixed messages between what they learn at university and what they observe occurring in the clinical learning environment can make learning nursing skills a difficult, challenging, and complex process for students. A theory-practice (T-P) gap has previously been acknowledged within nursing (Rolfe 2002, Maben, Latter and Macleod Clark 2006, Monaghan 2015), yet no clear definition of the concept exists. Therefore a concept analysis of the term ‘theory-practice gap’ was initially undertaken in order to seek clarification of the concept and to provide an original and operational definition for the research study that followed. This interpretivist study aimed to gain an insight from second-year nursing students regarding their experiences, if any, of a T-P gap as they learned to administer intramuscular injections (IMI). Yin’s (2003) single case study with embedded units design was used as a methodological construct for the research providing the researcher with the ability to analyse the data within, between and across the cases. Nineteen pre-registration adult nursing students subsequently attended one of four focus groups, with nine proceeding to undertake semi-structured, one–to–one, interviews. The students were asked to share their experiences of learning to administer IMIs and to explore what they believed enabled and influenced them in learning this skill. They were also asked about how they made sense of the associated nursing knowledge and practice related to giving IMIs. A documentary analysis of the IMI skills lesson plan, and relevant parts of the course handbook, was also performed. Utilising Thomas’ (2016) adapted constant comparative analysis four key themes emerged from the data, namely: i. Simulation based education; ii. Students challenging practice; iii. Cognitive dissonance; iv. Mentors’ practice and supervision. Interpretation of the results showed that a T-P gap existed, however not all students experienced cognitive dissonance as a resul…
author: Greenway, Kathleen
language: en
date published: 2018
date modified: 2026-07-24T03:43:00Z
provider: Oxford Brookes University
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: Oxford Brookes University

PropertyValue
property ID: DOI
value: 10.24384/c55r-rd36