The effect of deliberate practice and peer mentoring on baccalaureate nursing students’ competence in vital signs, breath sounds, and heart sounds

Abstract

<p><strong>Background:</strong> Nursing students often do not have adequate opportunities to practice psychomotor skills within patient care settings, but skill decay can occur without regular practice.&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Methods:</strong> A one-group, repeated-measures study (n=69) explored the effect of deliberate practice with peer mentoring on skill competence and retention in baccalaureate nursing students.&nbsp; Skill competence in vital signs, and auscultation of breath and heart sounds was measured using a task-specific checklist before, immediately after, and four months after a deliberate practice program with peer mentoring.</p> <p><strong>Results:</strong> Skill competence in vital signs significantly increased after deliberate practice.&nbsp; Skill competence in vital signs, and auscultation of breath and heart sounds did not significantly change four months after deliberate practice indicating skill retention.</p> <p><strong>Conclusions:</strong> This study suggests that the use of deliberate practice with peer mentoring may be an effective teaching strategy to enhance skill competence and retention; however more research is needed to support these findings.</p>