The Perceptions of Nurse Teachers, Student Nurses of the Theory-

Practice Gap in Nurse Education

It has been noticed that   nurses do not always provide the care they had been taught in the classroom and as a result , they cannot perform competently in clinical settings in their transition period or even after graduation. This is what called theory practice gap, which if not minimized has its consequences on nursing as profession and its related image. If nurses are not well equipped theoretically, they well be seen as doctors aid /hand. And if their hand on skills were not demonstrated well, their credibility will be questioned . more over it will affect their evaluation and so their professional development, the aim of study was to explore the teachers and students perception through their experience regard theory practice gap ; its effect and related factors to bridging it.

 Qualitative  interpretative approach was used to achieve the aim of the study.
 Purposive sample was used  consisted of 9 academia staff and the randomly method was used to select  10 first year nursing students from An-Najah National University. Both Structured individual  interview and focus group  method was used to collect data using 7  per-planned  open ended questions.  Harmonic ,  and  thematic  analysis approach was used to analyze the data.

  Results :theory –practice  gap existence is frustrated  for both nurses teachers and students. While it has no effect on teachers  idea regard real relationship that is  an integrative one, it has its effect on students  that wobble  from challenging , confecting to mimic and imitating other staff.  Main field and situation that have been identified in which the gap is exist were infection control, medication administration, nursing diagnosis, communication and patient care. The main factors that responsible  about the existence and size  of  the gap were   academia and faculty system, health system, clinical instructor competencies and  culture back ground and personality.

Conclusion: theory practice gap existence has it effect on students and teachers. Health system, academia and nursing union all have responsibilities toward bridging the gap.

Recommendation, further study to investigate the perception and experience of nursing staff and clinical instructors  is crucial

Key words : theory –practice  gap,

Conference Title

Nursing Day “Bridging the Gap between Theory and Practice: Focusing on Clinical Teaching & Learning in Nursing”,

Conference Country

Palestine

Conference Date

April 15, 2014 - April 15, 2014

Conference Sponsor

not sure