Practical Knowledge through Practical Training : A case study of nurse students and nurse instructors

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This study focuses on the nurse education at Uppsala University and more precisely on the final semester of practical training on site, where nurse students are instructed and supervised by their professional equivalents. This training period is supposed to enable the symbiosis of theoretical and practical knowledge for the student, turning her into a fully educated and independent professional. However, the period is however not unproblematic. The aim of the study is therefore to explore this practical training period with particular emphasis on the perceptions held by nurse students and nurse instructors regarding the prerequisites, process and outcome of this training.Based on a theoretical framework that draws on Wenger’s social theory of learning and its concept of communities of practice a case study is conducted focusing on the municipality of Uppsala. Interviews with three nurse students and three nurse instructors were carried out. The empirical findings suggest that the training period is an essential part of the nurse education where nurse students’ theoretical knowledge becomes instrumentalised. However, the period has many shortcomings suc...