Surveying the Effective Factors Involved in Integrating Theory and Practice in Nursing from the Nurse Teachers and Students Viewpoints in the Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery of Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, 1998.

Abstract

Abstract: Introduction: The problem of the gap between theory and practice is deeply rooted in the history of nurse education and remains a source of concern today. Several research studies have identified discrepancies between what students learn in the classroom (Theory) and what is practiced in clinical area (practice). The nursing students get acquainted to assessment, recognition, diagnosis of the patient’s needs and suitable services performance from the theoretical viewpoint but in providing appropriate services they aren’t capable of using theoretical training. With a view to the fact that one of the very important factors to promotion quality nursing education, is the integration of theory with nursing practice, and in nursing process two groups of instructors and students are the basic agents, the researcher to access the two groups viewpoints about the effective factors in integrating theory and practice in nursing performs this research and hopes that it be a point of departure in nursing training and to give the better clinical services. Method & Materials: This descriptive analytical study was conducted to determine and compare the viewpoints of nurse teachers and students about effective factors in integrating theory and practice in nursing. The data were collected by giving questionnaires. A five point Likert scale were used to determine the importance of the factors. Chi-square (x^2) test and Tchouproff correlation coefficient were used for statistical analysis. Population of this survey was nurse teachers (30) and final term students (44) in the faculty of nursing and midwifery of Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, 1998. The sample size was as population. Results: The findings indicated that there was 22.5 percent meaningful statistical correlation between the ideas of both groups and it could not be on served meaningful correlation cases in other 77.5 percent. Relation to the factors of the instructors, “the degree of knowledge of nurse teachers”, relation to the factors of the students, “comprehensive interest in the field of study”, relation to the factors of the clinical words, “staff development in terms of teaching”, and relation to the factors of assessment criteria, “evaluation along the clinical training” are the most effective factors the two groups points of view. And so, nurse teachers more than students believed that some factors in relation to the instructors, students, clinical wards and assessment criteria are effective. Discussion: The findings indicated that which kind of factors have been more affect, a minor affect and no effect on integration of theory and practice in nursing from the viewpoints of nurse teachers and students and so, what kind of factors were the different opinions between two groups. On account of the result, the researcher suggests that paying attention by the degree of effect of factors and putting them in performance so that, to decrease the gap between theory and practice in nursing education, paying more attention to the differences and similarities between two groups points of view and bringing the ideas closer can do better in solving the present difficulties.