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Effect of PETTLEP imagery training on performance of nursing skills: pilot study
Caroline Wright1, Elaine Hogard, Roger Ellis
1Department of Sport and Exercise Science, University of Chester, UK. caroline.wright@chester.ac.uk
Aim:
This article is a report of a study to evaluate the effect of PETTLEP-based imagery training on nursing skill performance.
Background:
Imagery structuring has been demonstrated to facilitate the development of psychomotor skills in sporting performance. A form of imagery structuring known as PETTLEP was employed in this study. PETTLEP (an acronym for its procedures) involves preparation through focussing on physical characteristics, the environment, the task itself, timing, learning, emotion and perspective.
Methods:
A pilot study was conducted, using experimental design, and the data were collected in 2005. Participants in the experiment were 56 pre-registration students from one university in the United Kingdom. Half of the students received training for two basic nursing skills using PETTLEP procedures, and scores were compared for two objective structured clinical examinations.
Results:
Students who received PETTLEP training for blood pressure measurement performed statistically significantly better than those who did not (F = 4.62 P = <0.05). The training did not have a statistically significant effect for aseptic techniques. We suggest that the psychomotor element in aseptic techniques was not as important as that involved in blood pressure measurement.
Conclusion:
PETTLEP imagery should be explored further as a method to help nursing students acquire skills that have a psychomotor component.
