Can action research be applied in developing clinical teaching?

The purpose of this paper is to describe the solutions sought and to assess if action research can be applied to the development of clinical teaching in Finland.

Abstract

Nursing education has undergone significant changes during the last two decades in Finland. However, clinical teaching has remained unchanged even though it forms the most extensive part of nursing education. National and international research results have also exposed several problems for clinical teaching. In the Finnish nursing education system these problems have remained unsolved probably because many of the suggestions for development, based on research results, presuppose changes in both the college and health care systems. The whole system of clinical teaching was changed during the years 1992-1993 in one nursing college and in one hospital in Tampere, Finland. Action research as a research strategy was applied in this study. The purpose of this paper is to describe the solutions sought and to assess if action research can be applied to the development of clinical teaching.