Should We Prelab? Exploring a Time Honored Tradition in Nursing Education From the Faculty Perspective

Purpose: This study continues prior work by Turner and Keeler (2015) and explores Prelab (clinical preparation activities) in nursing education from the faculty perspective. Certainly, the literature highlights mixed views on the purposes, intent, and merit of prelab among nursing educators. This study explores the relevance of prelab from the perspective of the faculty.  The primary research questions are: (1) Should we prelab?;  (2) What is the impact of prelab on student learning?;  (3) What are the potential benefits of prelab? (3) What are the potential detriments to prelab?; and, (4) If there is a need to prelab, what is the recommended process?

Significance: The clinical setting is the learning laboratory that connects theoretical concepts with psychomotor skills. As current literature demonstrates a paucity of research on clinical preparation, the authors completed work from both the student and faculty perspective. This work reports the result on faculty perceptions of Prelab and compares this work with the results of the previously published work on student perceptions.

Methods: This descriptive study investigates prelab practices and faculty perceptions. We designed and administered a survey assessing prelab practices and attitudes of students and instructors in one pre-licensure baccalaureate program in California.  The faculty survey consisted of 23 Likert-style questions as well as a final open-ended question at the end of the survey. The internal reliability of the instrument is high (Cronbach’s  a = .80). This survey was distributed to students (N=541) and clinical faculty (N=94) – 298 students and 34 faculty returned the survey.

Analysis: Quantitative data was cleaned and analyzed using Stata 13. Authors assessed internal validity by correlating similar questions (r = 0.6111). A content analysis on the qualitative data was completed to determine underlying themes.

Results: The most common forms of patient assignment included “student assigned patient - student gathers information” (37.3 percent) and “unit staff assigned patient - student gathers information” (33.6 percent). The study explores a comparison between faculty results and student results with faculty placing more importance on Prelab and students reporting increased stress, anxiety, and diminished sleep.

Conclusions: Factors affecting faculty perception of Prelab include: timing of assignment, time spent on the assignment, stress, and anxiety.

Implications: The findings provide insight into the usefulness of Prelab from the faculty perspective and open up the dialogue between student and faculty perceptions of preparation for clinical education.