Determining the effect of periodic training on the basic psychomotor skills of nursing students

Background: Basic psychomotor skill training starts in the first year in nursing education. The psychomotor skills taught in the first year of nursing training constitute a foundation for all professional practices. Conducting periodic training for skills with which students are deficient can support mastery learning. Objectives: The study was conducted as an interventional study for determining the effect of periodic training on the basic psychomotor skills learned in the Fundamentals of Nursing course. Design: The sample consisted of 70 students attending the Fundamentals of Nursing course at nursing students in a university in Ankara, over 4 years between 2010 and 2013. Methods: The study was conducted as an interventional study for a period of 4 years. The data were collected through a questionnaire that was applied 4 times at the end of each academic year. According to the results of the forms evaluated at the end of each year, 4 additional laboratory activities were conducted addressing the deficient psychomotor skills of students at the beginning of the new academic semester in the 2nd and 3rd years. In the 4th-year clinic practice, courses were arranged to practice still deficient psychomotor skills. Results: It was determined that students practiced nearly all of the basic psychomotor skills during clinical practice and that the practices with which they felt themselves to be inadequate gradually decreased following periodic training; this decrease was significant (p < 0.05). While the number of students who could practice was low at the first measurement, following 3 years of periodic training, these skills increased significantly (p < 0.05). Conclusion: This study determined that periodic training addressing the deficient psychomotor skills of nursing students was effective. We recommend that students' psychomotor skills be evaluated periodically and repetitive training based on the results of this evaluation be provided throughout the undergraduate nursing education process. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.