clinical scholar model

The purpose of this study was to evaluate student outcomes following implementation of a clinical scholar model of clinical education in one of four placement sites of a college of nursing grounded in a caring philosophy. The question guiding the study was to determine if the clinical scholar model has an influence on student perceptions and outcomes when used with second-degree accelerated BSN students. Watson's Human Caring theory, based on ten caritas processes, serves as the theoretical framework for this study (Watson, 2007). A sequential mixed-methods approach that combined quantitative and qualitative data collection techniques was implemented using a pre-experimental, post-test only design with non-equivalent groups to determine differences between the Traditional Model (TM) and Clinical Scholar Model (CSM) in clinical nursing education... Limitations of this study include low sample size and are partially due to limitations of the class size and low survey participation. Additionally, only CSM students attended a focus group, which prevented comparisons of qualitative feedback between groups. Even with these limitations, CSM students scored as well or better than TM students, indicating that the CSM could be a viable model for nursing clinical education.