An Unfolding Case Study: Supporting Contextual Psychomotor Skill Development in Novice Nursing Students.

Background Nursing students learn psychomotor skills in the nursing lab, removed from the context of real patient care. As a result, students experience challenges linking client conditions with pertinent assessments and the performance of skills in the clinical setting. To address this gap, we created an unfolding case study for the nursing lab that provides context and supports students to use assessment and theory to guide skill performance in practice. Method Faculty and student focus groups were conducted to elicit feedback on the use of an unfolding case in the nursing lab with novice nursing students as they transition to clinical practice. Results Impacts that emerged from the faculty and student focus groups included knowledge synthesis, transferability to practice, and increased clinical competence. Conclusions The unfolding case study successfully supported students' transition to acute care practice. Both faculty and student participants expressed a desire for use of this dynamic method in all nursing lab courses.