The value of role modelling: Perceptions of undergraduate and diploma nursing students - Essay Example

This paper attempts to undertake a careful description of the two most essential readings in nursing education and they are "The value of role modelling: Perceptions of undergraduate and diploma nursing (adult) students" and "A Review of Preceptorship in Undergraduate Nursing Education: Implications for Staff Development." The former is an article by Jayne H. Donaldson and Diana Carter which, "Using a grounded theory methodology . demonstrates the value of role modelling in teaching and learning within the clinical area.

" (Donaldson and Carter, 353) The latter, an article by Marijo Letizia, and Judith Jennrich, "reports a literature review and summarizes the benefits of preceptorship, outlines preceptor responsibilities and qualities, and discusses the process of preceptor selection and role preparation. Suggestions for collaborative efforts regarding the preceptor experience among staff nurses, nurse educators, and staff development educators are highlighted." (Letizia and Jennrich, 211) Therefore, this paper is an important endeavour to describe the two articles.

"The value of role modelling: Perceptions of undergraduate and diploma nursing (adult) students" b y Donaldson and Carter is concerned with the significance of role modelling in teaching and learning within the clinical area. The relevance of this article is that it summaries the available literature on the importance of providing role modelling within the clinical learning and attempts to provide setting to facilitate learning for student nurses. The study also incorporates the views of twenty undergraduate and twenty two diploma nursing (adult) students on the question.

"Both groups of students stated the importance of having access to a good role model in order that they could observe and practice skills and/or behaviour. 'Good' role models were seen to have a tremendous influence on the clinical learning environment and on the development of students' competence and confidence." (Donaldson and Carter, 353) The article also provides significant recommendations with regard to role modelling within the clinical learning. Thus, it is proposed in the study that there should be discussions on the relevance of role modelling pertaining to the development of the clinical learning setting within mentor preparation courses.

The article also suggests that there should be emphasis on the necessity of observational learning, constructive feedback, and the role models the clinical learning setting. The role models can facilitate the student in transferring the observed skills into their own skills set. In short, the article has prime value in an understanding of the significance of role modelling in teaching and learning within the clinical area. The opening section of the article by Donaldson and Carter introduces role modelling clearly and establishes Bandura's theory of modelling on the basis of four interrelated concepts incorporated in it.

It also points out Bandura's argument that the standards exhibited by exemplary models have a general influence on individuals. The section also summarises the requirements of role modelling and the important literature available on the topic. In the next section, the authors clearly state the methodology adopted in the study. The authors claim to have followed all the methods of an effective research including the use of individual and focus group interviews for data collection, the essentials of data analysis and methods to ensure reliability and validity in the study.

The next section sums up the main findings of the study corresponding to the available literature on the topic, especially the theories of Bandura. In the next short section of the article, the authors reflect on the limitations of the study, including the small sample size and geographical area. In the concluding section of the article, a summary of the results of the investigation is presented. The findings of the study are connected to the role modelling literature which suggests that