Generally, it is assumed that nurses are reasonably skilled in the performance of practical nursing actions by the end of their first year of practice. This article contests this assumption based on empirical data from a longitudinal study of newly graduated nurses. Three issues are discussed: the notion that experience (per se) can guarantee a positive development in practical skill performance; the failure to relate to inherent complexities in practical skill performance during evaluation of skill; and the significance of acknowledging differences in skill complexity during skill development. A reinstated focus on practical skill in nursing education and collaboration between education and practice is needed to secure quality in a nurse's actual performance.

Issues in nurses' practical skill development in the clinical setting.

Changing conceptions of practical skill and skill acquisition in nursing education



The learning of practical skill in nursing is not a priority of nursing education today. This is a result of a narrow and mechanistic concept of practical skill and its acquisition in nursing education. This paper reviews these conceptions as they have been developed in major textbooks for nurse teachers and in research articles on skill teaching, learning and evaluation over the past 50 years. Nursing research must move out of the laboratory and into the clinical setting in order to incorporate the typical aspects of practical skill learning in nursing. Future challenges in this kind of research are discussed.

Changing conceptions of practical skill and skill acquisition in nursing education

This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses and Dissertations at Loyola eCommons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Loyola eCommons. For more information, please contact ecommons@luc.edu. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The author is indebted to many people who have been of direct and indirect assitance in writing this dissertation.

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J Quiring

Papers

The autotutorial approach.