Learning from experience: nurse tutors' and student nurses' perceptions of experiential learning in nurse education: some initial findings.
Experiential learning and experiential learning methods have been widely described in the literature as aids to learning about nursing. This paper describes a descriptive study of nurse tutors' and student nurses' perceptions of experiential learning. Two research methods were used: in-depth semi-structured interviews of 12 nurse tutors and 12 student nurses, followed by a questionnaire survey of a total population of nurse tutors in Wales, U.K. (n = 184) and a 100% stratified sample of student nurses in Wales (n = 325). The questionnaire items were devised out of the interview data. This report offers a description of how the study was conducted and some of the findings. Notably, student nurses tended to perceive experiential learning in terms of learning in the clinical setting whilst tutors referred more to experiential learning as a classroom activity. Other findings are described and discussed.