The DEU and Effect on Self-Efficacy, Part II

The Dedicated Education Unit (DEU) is an innovative model for clinical education. Nurse educators and nurses form a collaboration that combines the expertise of both with a focus on creating the most effective clinical learning environment for the nursing student. Although the DEU has shown promise related to collaboration in the learning environment and the ability to increase faculty capacity only a few published research studies have examined student outcomes.
This is Part II of a previously reported pilot study aimed at examining the effects of the DEU on nursing students’ perceptions of self-efficacy with regard to knowledge and ability to achieve expected clinical performance. More than 100 undergraduate, pre-licensure, nursing students participated in this quasi-experimental, exploratory study. Participants were assigned to either the DEU or a traditional clinical education model as part of enrollment in a 7- or 15-week course with a clinical education component. The construct of self-efficacy was measured prior to and at the completion of the clinical rotation using a general self-efficacy scale (SE) adapted for this study. The results from the DEU and traditional clinical models were compared.