Implementation of a guideline-based clinical practice teaching model to enhance learning and thinking abilities in...

This study developed a guideline-based clinical practice teaching model aimed at enhancing the learning and thinking abilities of nursing interns and assessed the efficiency of its implementation.

A clinical practice teaching modeltargeting the learning and thinking abilities of undergraduate nursing students was developed by referencing the Clinical Practice Guideline and incorporating relevant evidence. The final version of the program was established following a review by stakeholders involved in the project. Undergraduate nursing students interning at a hospital from July 2022 to March 2024 were recruited as study participants. A single-center, prospective, single-blind, pretest and post test, randomized controlled trial design was adopted. They were assigned to either an experimental group or a control group using a random number table. The control group followed the conventional clinical practice teaching model, while the experimental group participated in the newly developed program focusing on learning and thinking abilities. The study compared the self-regulated learning ability and critical thinking ability scores of both groups before and after clinical practice.

The experimental group demonstrated a significant improvement in self-regulated learning ability, critical thinking ability, and all associated subdimensions by the end of the internship compared to the beginning, with statistically significant differences. In contrast, the control group revealed improvements in critical thinking ability, inquisitiveness, and maturity by the end of the internship, but the differences in other dimensions were not statistically significant. Additionally, at the conclusion of the internship, the experimental group revealed significantly greater improvement in the truth-seeking and receptiveness dimensions compared to the control group.In the analysis, male nursing students were identified as a facilitator of truth-seeking within critical thinking, while nursing students from rural areas and having group members from the same school were identified as facilitators of open-mindedness within critical thinking.

The guideline-based clinical practice teaching model, aimed at enhancing the self-regulated learning ability and critical thinking ability of undergraduate nursing students, effectively contributes to improvements in their overall skill set. It is recommended that further multi-center, large-scale studies focused on student development be conducted to ensure the continuous enhancement of educational outcomes.

Not applicable.