Scoping Review of Distributed Practice in Nursing Education

AIM The aim of this study was to describe the status of distributed practice in research of nursing education. BACKGROUND The science of learning has compiled evidence-based strategies that should be integral to nursing education. One long-standing strategy, distributed practice, involves spacing, placing cognitive breaks between study or practice sessions with priority information. METHOD Reviewing literature published over 20 years at every level of nursing education, the authors conducted a scoping review to determine the extent to which research of nursing education includes attention to distributed practice. RESULTS In the 13 articles meeting criteria, distributed practice was most common in continuing professional development, with an emphasis in learning psychomotor skills. Study authors used a variety of terms and descriptions in referring to the strategy. CONCLUSION By way of research, distributed practice appears underutilized in nursing education, especially at prelicensure and graduate levels, and could benefit from clear and consistent use of terminology.