Biomedical subjects

I T Bjørk

Publications and source records attributed to I T Bjørk.

6 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2000

From simplicity to complexity: developing a model of practical skill performance in nursing.

The purpose of this article is to present and discuss a new model of practical skill performance in nursing. The model is conceptualized as having five components: substance and sequence; accuracy; fluency; integration; and caring conduct. The model challenges the truism of 'simple' nursing procedures. It is argued that performance of practical skills in nursing is characterized by complexity on many levels. Complexity lies within and between the components of the performance model and in the interaction between the nurse and the clinical context where practical nursing actions are performed. These complexities are described. Examples that illustrate the complex and reciprocal nature of these components are drawn from an empirical study of graduate nurses' development of practical skill in surgical hospital units. Implications of the model for education, practice and research are discussed.

Adult↗

PubMed1999

Practical skill development in new nurses.

This paper reports the results of an empirical study of new nurses' development of practical skill. Actual practice and clinical learning of new nurses has received minor attention in nursing research. This may build on the assumption that practical skill naturally improve as a result of working in the clinical setting. In the present study nurses were videotaped several times as they performed in the clinical setting, and interviewed after each filming. Analysis of skill development was rendered possible by comparing characteristics of performance over time. A model of practical skill performance was developed during the analysis. This model advances a broader understanding of practical skill by incorporating the following constructs: substance and sequence, accuracy, fluency, integration and caring comportment. The nurses' trajectories of practical skill development are presented on the basis of this model. Individual and common trends in practical skill development are discussed, and the idea of development of practical skill as a natural happening in the clinical setting is critiqued.

Adult↗

PubMed1999

Issues in nurses' practical skill development in the clinical setting.

Generally, it is assumed that nurses are reasonably skilled in the performance of practical nursing actions by the end of their first year of practice. This article contests this assumption based on empirical data from a longitudinal study of newly graduated nurses. Three issues are discussed: the notion that experience (per se) can guarantee a positive development in practical skill performance; the failure to relate to inherent complexities in practical skill performance during evaluation of skill; and the significance of acknowledging differences in skill complexity during skill development. A reinstated focus on practical skill in nursing education and collaboration between education and practice is needed to secure quality in a nurse's actual performance.

Clinical Competence↗

PubMed1999

What constitutes a nursing practical skill?

Practical nursing skills ensure patients' physical comfort, hygiene, and safe medical treatment. The learning, performance, or significance of nursing practical skills are seldom a theme in theoretical and philosophical debate or the topic of research within nursing. This might be due to a long-standing behavioristic tradition in nursing of viewing nursing practical skills in a simplistic way, only as correctly sequenced motor movement. The purpose of this article is to bring forth an argument for a broader understanding of the constitution of nursing practical skills. This argument is substantiated by a review of past and present conceptualizations of nursing practical skills as well as by philosophical reflections on the value of practical skills in the nursing profession. Nursing practical skills embrace dimensions of performance, intention, and nursing "disciplined" understanding.

Art↗

PubMed1997

Changing conceptions of practical skill and skill acquisition in nursing education.

The learning of practical skill in nursing is not a priority of nursing education today. This is a result of a narrow and mechanistic concept of practical skill and its acquisition in nursing education. This paper reviews these conceptions as they have been developed in major textbooks for nurse teachers and in research articles on skill teaching, learning and evaluation over the past 50 years. Nursing research must move out of the laboratory and into the clinical setting in order to incorporate the typical aspects of practical skill learning in nursing. Future challenges in this kind of research are discussed.

Clinical Competence↗

PubMed1995

Neglected conflicts in the discipline of nursing: perceptions of the importance and value of practical skill.

The patient's body has moved out of focus in nursing. This has led to the diminishing importance of practical skill in the discipline of nursing. Patients, however, consider these skills to be a vital part of good nursing care. How can nursing as a practical discipline live with the long-standing conflicts that these disparate views create? It is time that theoretical discourse within the discipline paid attention to the patient's perception of good nursing care, and that efforts are made to investigate how nurses in the clinical setting develop and consolidate the practical skills needed for the patient's hygiene, comfort and medical treatment. In this paper the conflicts are delineated and conditions relevant to their development are discussed.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗