Learning Effect by Introducing Elderly Actors into Practice at School

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to identify learning effects by introducing elderly actors into gerontological nursing practice at school. The subjects were 30 junior and senior students who experienced gerontological nursing practice from January to April, 2006 at our university. The subjects were assigned to either “actor group” in which the students perform skills to elderly actors or “student group” in which the students perform skills to students, in the first two days during the practice period. We conducted a questionnaire survey on level of learning effects using a visual analog scale in the students before and after classroom practice, and after clinical practice. As a result, the higher learning effects were shown in the actor group in the following aspects：In the classroom practice, 1） the students captured an image of the elderly；2） they were confident about their skills；and 3） they found an interest in performing their skills ; In the clinical practice, 5） they had many chances to perform skills；6） they were able to perform skills well；and 7） they were able to collaborate with the staff and the faculty. Also, correlating items with “Finally I was confident of my skills” were mostly associated with clinical training including “I was interested in performing skills at clinical training” and “the interpersonal relationship with the elderly was deepened at clinical training and we were accepted”. These results suggest that learning effects of students are enhanced by introducing elderly actors into practice at school. And it is also important to work out carefully the designs for clinical training.