Strategies for Bridging the Theory-Practice Gap in Nursing Education from the Perspective of Nursing Teachers, Clinical Nurses, and Nursing Students

Background: Nurses are the integral part of the health-care team who focus on the well-being of the patient and quality patient care. With wide range of roles and responsibility, nurses should have proper knowledge of the subject along with the necessary competent skills to perform their duties. The gap between education and the clinical practice has always been challenge for educational experts in the field. Objectives: The objectives were to explore the factors causing the theory-practice gap in nursing education in India and to identify the strategies for bridging the theory-practice gap in nursing education. Methods: The research design was descriptive qualitative design. The data were collected from 30 participants including 10 clinical nurses, 10 nursing teachers and 10 nursing students from selected hospitals and nursing colleges of Northern India. Non-probability purposive sampling technique was used to collect the data. Semi-structured telephonic interview with self-administered questionnaire was used to collect the data. The collected data were analysed by