Mental practice: an alternative approach to teaching motor skills

Nursing educators expect that students will learn psychomotor skills and demonstrate competence in these skills. However, current emphasis on cognitive and psychosocial skills concerns nursing educators because psychomotor skills are necessary for safe practice. One possible strategy, based on a holistic framework, is mental practice. This is the same type of practice that athletes use when preparing to perform a sports activity. The purpose of this study was to determine whether mental imaging practice for nursing students affected the learning and performance of giving an intramuscular injection. Findings suggest that mental practice does affect learning and performance of motor skills.