The Nursing Training-Practice Gap: Which is This?

Abstract

Nursing training is a formally recognized program of study providing a broad and sound foundation in nursing sciences for the general practice of nursing. Nursing practice is the ways, means, methods, and manners nurses use to offer care professionally. Sometimes gaps exist between nursing training and practice. These gaps impede on better patient care and outcomes. This review is relevant in that the causes of the gaps have been exposed for use and the way forward in reducing the gap. The objectives of this review were; to expose the nursing training-practice gap, to explore the causes of the widening gap, and to describe strategies for bridging the gap. Sources of information included PubMed, Cochrane Library, Google Scholar, Web of Science Platform, organizations, and books. It has been observed that the nursing training-practice gap constitute a persistent universal nursing problem affecting patients, nursing students, novice and expert nurses and institutions and is widening. The causes of the widening nursing training-practice gap have been described to be; changing trends and pertain of diseases, lack of a bond between the training schools as an academic environment and the hospital as a clinical environment, liberalization of nursing education, discrepancies in applying theoretical knowledge to practice, inconsistencies between ideals and values, professional stress due to high workload, scarce supervision on nurses’ work, and unhealthy human attitudinal and behavioral factors. However, strategies to bridge the gap have also been provided to encompass, awareness creation, internships and apprenticeships in nursing training, preceptorship, facilitative supervision, continuous education, and evidence-based practice. This review is important in that nursing trainers, practitioners, and researchers could use the information for sensitization and reduction of the widening gap.