Exploration of the Gap between Theory and Practice in Tunisia Nurse Education System: A Cross-Sectional Descriptive Study with a Focus on Hand Hygiene

Abstract

The theory/practice gap has long been highlighted as one of the biggest problems hindering the advancement of nurse sciences and nursing students. This problem however has never been explored nor proved to be present within the Tunisian nurse bachelor degree. Thus we aim to explore the existence of this gap in the Tunisian nurse education program through the technique of simple hand washing.This study is a cross-sectional descriptive study, recruiting cohort of randomly chosen nurses (n=70), over the span of 6 months. Both a survey questionnaire and an observation grid were used, one was to test the nurse's knowledge of the simple hand washing technique the other to evaluate the execution of the technique.Only 10% of our population were able to correctly name the different recommended steps needed to execute the technique in question. Only 8.6% were able to successfully answer the entire survey questionnaire. 67.1 % of the observed nurses failed to execute the technique in accordance with the recommendations for it .Our study proved the existence of the theory/practice gap within in the curriculum of the high institute of nursing of Tunis, at least when it comes to hand hygiene, which calls for further examination of the problem and immediate intervention.

Is Theory-Practice Gap Existe ?

“…This study proved that there is a theory-practice gap. A similar result from the study by Bouchleghem and Mansouri et al (2018). This reality can be explained by the pedagogy used, the quality of the supervision on clinical area, a curriculum not adapted to the specificities of profession.…”

Implementing the Internship Educational Method, a Step to Reduce the Gap between Theory and Practice, Experience of Undergraduate Nursing Students: A Qualitative Content Analysis Study

“…To bridge the theory-practice gap, some measures have been taken to change clinical teaching methods and incorporate innovation in clinical education (13). Although none of these measures has been able to bridge the gap between theory and practice in the growing nursing profession, they have been largely effective (14). Nursing education in Iran has also faced the challenge of the theorypractice gap, which results in training students who are not able to fulfill their responsibilities to meet the needs of patients and society.…”

Predictors and outcomes of nursing students' engagement trajectories at the beginning of their program

“…At the start of their professional training, it is often hard for nursing students to understand how the theoretical knowledge acquired in their education can translate into their upcoming professional practice. This type of theory-practice gap has long been recognized as a major problem in the development of nursing science and the training of nursing students (Bouchlaghem & Mansouri, 2018), and could be partially explained by a lack of student engagement in their professional training. Moreover, nursing students often face stressful situations from the first moments of their professional education (Gürdil Yilmaz et al, 2022), including the intense level of stress typically associated with their first clinical experiences (Li et al, 2020) and resulting from their lack of professional knowledge and skills, perceptions of time pressure, and various coping difficulties (Uysal & Çalışkan, 2022).…”