UNCOVERING THE PRACTICAL KNOWLEDGE OF THE TEACHING-COACHING DOMAIN OF NURSING PRACTICE.
Contributors: University of Georgia.
Published: 1993
Number of pages: 139
Subjects: Education, Adult and Continuing.; Health Sciences, Nursing.
Description: Nurses have not historically documented their own clinical learning. Therefore, the knowledge that resides in actual nursing practice has been virtually ignored (Benner, 1984). The purpose of this inquiry was to investigate the practical knowledge of the teaching-coaching domain of nursing care and how the practical knowledge of the teaching-coaching domain was reflected across three skill levels of registered nurses: advanced beginner, competent, and expert.

This study employed qualitative methodology to describe the knowledge embedded in clinical practice. The sample consisted of nine participants, three from each skill level. A total of 18 paradigm cases, two from each participant, was obtained in a narrative story format. A revised version of the Benner Interview Tool was used to ask probing questions to clarify or elaborate on information about the paradigm cases. An inductive data analysis strategy based on the Glaser and Strauss (1967) constant comparative method was used to code the data.

Three constructs of practical knowledge emerged from the data: Sense of Timing, Personal Conversation, and Situation-Specific Support. The first, Sense of Timing, described how nurses determine a patient's or family's readiness to learn. The second, Personal Conversation, explained how nurses use communication skills in their teaching-coaching. The third construct, Situation-Specific Support, portrayed how nurses enable patients and families to understand and cope with their illnesses. Sense of Timing and Situation-Specific Support confirmed Benner's (1984) research. Personal Conversation was a new construct that included use of an appropriate vocabulary and reciprocal interpretation. Findings revealed that nurses in all three skill levels demonstrated progressive levels of practical knowledge. Differences were found in the depth and comprehensiveness of knowledge when participants articulated and described their practical knowledge.

Both practical knowledge and the acquisition of such knowledge have implications for continuing professional education and professional practice. These new perspectives add to nursing's knowledge base by providing a model of teaching-coaching and validating clinical knowledge.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 55-01, Section: A, page: 0034.

Thesis (ED.D.)--UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA, 1993.

School code: 0077.