The DEU model is an innovative clinical experience that provides nursing students with a positive environment to enhance learning and transition into nursing practice (Pavado, Sportsman, & Bradshaw, 2015). Traditional clinical experiences assign one faculty to function as the instructor for a group of eight to ten students. DEU students are assigned a clinical instructor (CI) who is an experienced staff nurse on the assigned unit (DeMeester, 2012). The student’s clinical learning experience is one to one with the staff nurse taking on the role of the clinical instructor. The DEU coordinator is a faculty member who can oversee more students and coaches the CI’s on the DEU. The health care agency provides and pays the staff nurses thus decreasing the number of faculty needed from the nursing program (Wyte-Lake, Tran, Bowman, Needleman, & Dobalian, 2013).
More research is needed to examine the quality of the DEU model and the impact this experience has on the learning outcomes of student’s participating in this type of clinical experience (Nishioka, Coe, Hanita, & Moscato, 2014). This project evaluated the impact that the DEU model had compared to a traditional clinical model on the student’s satisfaction and achievement of course learning outcomes. Clinical reasoning and critical thinking skills develop through the student's interactions and collaboration with nurses, patients, families, staff, and other healthcare professionals (Trueman, Osuji, and El-Hussein, 2014). Working one to one with a nurse provides students on a designated unit learning opportunities that enhance technical skills, time management, prioritization, and professional behaviors.
Benefits of this collaborative model are identified as increased satisfaction among participating staff and community partners, improved recruitment of new graduates with enhanced experience and skills decreasing the need for extended orientation upon hiring. Students from the collaborative program were identified as having more advanced skills in teamwork, professionalism, and were better prepared for the practice by community partners (Teel, MacIntyre, Murray, & Rock, 2011). Participating preceptors have also expressed a real desire and need to remain current on recent advances in health care issues and expressed professional growth as a result of this partnership. A decrease in staff turnover, improved communication, and conflict resolution skills are found among staff nurses developed in the clinical instructor role (Kooker & Kamikawa, 2010). The positive outcomes of the DEU model have supported the growth of the program to include five clinical agencies.
Studies of student’s perceptions indicated an increase occurs in bridging the gap between classroom and practice when participating in the DEU experience (Dapremont & Lee, 2013). Data to evaluate the effectiveness of student learning in the DEU setting is a significant component needed to support the validity of the clinical experience. The positive impact of this experience is not only reflected by student’s comments of increased confidence, appropriate knowledge utilization, and positive patient outcomes but also in their academic strength.
In the year 2017, a retrospective quantitative pilot study compared the HESI medical-surgical specialty exam scores of students completing the adult medical-surgical course after either a traditional or DEU clinical experience. Statistical analyses of the data gathered was conducted using IBM SPSS version 24 and a t-test to compare the results of 32 students who participated in the DEU to the comparison group of students with a traditional clinical experience. The study found students who participated in the DEU program scored significantly higher (Score=855. SD = 151.6) when compared to students from the traditional experience (Score= 786. SD = 148.39). The DEU program has proven to benefit students and practice partners.
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