Students’ performance in venous blood specimen collection practice before internship : an observation study

Introduction: Newly trained nurses experience a lack of preparedness in practical skills, and research shows that students and newly trained nurses have deficiencies in performing practical skills such as venous blood specimen collection. There is a lack of knowledge regarding the level of accuracy reached by students after training at clinical training centres and before entering clinical practice. The aim of this study was to assess the performance of venous blood specimen collection among nursing students after regular education and training at the clinical training centre but before starting an internship. Methods: Twenty-three nursing students were observed and video-recorded. An observation protocol was developed based on a validated questionnaire measuring adherence to valid guidelines, and a model for practical skills performance. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics. Results: A large variation was found in students’ performance with respect to information provided to the patient, patient identification procedures, and tourniquet procedures. The students gave adequate information in 39% of cases, accurately performed patient identification in 83% of cases, and accurately performed the tourniquet procedure in 22% of cases. Conclusions: Many nursing students are not prepared to practice on real patients. It is therefore important for university lecturers to develop more efficient teaching methods and to communicate students’ skill levels to the supervisor at the clinic, in order for the clinical training to be adapted to a suitable level. There is a need for further research on how to close the gap between the university and internship in order to ensure patient safety.