Strategies to Bridge the Theory-Practice Gap in Nursing Education in Iran: A Participatory Action Research.

Background: Nursing is a scientific profession that focuses on the art of care. However, its theory-practice gap has led to problems in teaching nursing students. Therefore, this paper aims to present the effects of the implementation of theory-practice gap strategies in training nursing students in the emergency department. Materials and Methods: This study included the implementation and reflection phases of participatory action research in both the School of Nursing and Midwifery of the Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Iran, and the emergency ward of Alzahra Educational Hospital, Iran, from 2016 to 2019. First, 10 strategies were implemented with the help of stakeholders. In the reflection phase, 15 semi-structured, in-depth interviews, focus groups, observations, and field notes were analyzed using the conventional content analysis approach. Results: The data were obtained from 15 participants, most of whom were women. Data analysis revealed three themes and seven main categories, including leaving the comfort zone (understanding the necessity for changes, individual and organizational perception, and response to change), bringing about change (strengthening of patterns and preparation of processes), and unstable deployment of change (perceived promotion and planning to reinforce the change). Conclusions: Using participatory action research to reduce the theory-practice gap in nursing education is of grave importance. During the change process, stakeholders defined new educational processes or reinforced the previous applicable patterns. Also, they started to plan for more control over educational processes as well as considering new promotions. This is valuable knowledge for use in bridging the theory-practice gap in nursing education.