Technological competence as a fundamental structure of learning in critical care nursing: a phenomenological study.
Post-registration education programmes are frequently informed by nationally agreed curriculum frameworks. Although these aim to promote comparability between similarly focused clinical courses, inconsistencies have recently been identified across a range of critical care curricula. This suggests that broad-based frameworks may be insufficiently sensitive to local learning needs. This study was concerned with the extent to which the curriculum met the learning needs of 10 post-registration critical care students and, in particular, aimed to explore the meaning of learning to the students themselves. The study revealed technological competence to be a necessary foundation to the development of clinical practice and this is discussed from a philosophical perspective which allows the nature of contemporary nursing practice to be reconceptualized. It is argued that curriculum development for clinically based, post-registration courses can be constructively informed by local consultation and that phenomenological study can complement more traditional approaches often relied upon in educational research.
Bournemouth House, Bournemouth University, 17 Christchurch Road, Bournemouth BH1 3LG, UK.
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D002983:Clinical Competence; D003162:Competency-Based Education / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000592:standards*; D003422:Critical Care / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards*; D003479:Curriculum / Q000592:standards*; D004508:Education, Nursing, Baccalaureate / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000592:standards*; D006801:Humans; D007858:Learning; D017145:Models, Educational; D015404:Nursing Methodology Research