Should We Prelab? A Student-Centered Look at the Time-Honored Tradition of Prelab in Clinical Nursing Education

Abstract

This study explores clinical preparation (prelab) in nursing education from the student's perspective. More than half of the students surveyed (n = 296) believed prelab learning activities were important; however, they reported that prelab increases stress and decreases sleep quantity. Timing, stress, and anxiety were factors affecting student perception of prelab. The findings suggest that students receive diminishing returns on the time spent on prelab; nevertheless, prelab may enhance their learning and patient safety.

Exploring Differences between Faculty and Student Perceptions of Pre-clinical Preparation Activities

“…Such a time consuming process may increase student anxiety and influence the student's ability to have an adequate amount of sleep before the clinical day [7]. Stress and sleep-deprivation have long-term implications for learning as well as patient safety.…”

“…The prelab process itself can be highly time-consuming, by some estimates averaging students 5+ hours [7,10]. Such a time consuming process may increase student anxiety and influence the student's ability to have an adequate amount of sleep before the clinical day [7].…”

“…Prelab includes activities associated with preparing the student for his/her clinical experience, including patient selection, patient data collection, student research on the pathophysiology, medications, and treatments such that he/she can prepare a plan of care [7,8,9]. Prelab seeks to supplement the didactic course work, helping connect theory and clinical practice.…”

“…Prelab seeks to supplement the didactic course work, helping connect theory and clinical practice. Literature has suggested that prelab improves the student's ability to collect relevant data [7,10,11,12], enhances critical thinking [7,13], strengthens research skills, and promotes self-directed learning [14] Prelab may help students develop a comprehensive plan of care, [7,9,11], anticipate priority nursing diagnoses [10,11,12], identify relevant nursing interventions [10], and implement nursing care plans [10,11,12].…”

“…To meet this demand, enrollment has increased in nursing schools across the country. While the increase in the number of nursing students is largely positive, the augmented student population does present new challenges, particularly when it comes to student placement in a finite number of clinical sites [6,7]. As a result, educators must weigh the relative benefits of each component of the clinical experience, including pre-laboratory (or "prelab") activities as these activities are time consuming for both student and educator and additionally, utilize the finite clinical site for activities that are not directly related to patient care.…”