An experience of field work learning for healthcare providers: new perspectives between disadvantages and critical issues

INTRODUCTION: The learning models used in traditional education are not very effective for the continuing education of healthcare providers. Fieldwork learning is an active learning method that is feasible in the workplace and is also suitable for professionals who possess a style of experiential learning. Guardian Angel 2.0® is a fieldwork learning project designed to promote educational skills in nurses to improve the self-care and quality of life in women affected by osteoporosis. The purpose of this article is to present the Guardian Angel 2.0® project and its results. METHODS: The Guardian Angel 2.0® effort lasted nine months and involved 212 nurses in the north, centre and south of Italy. A socio-demographic questionnaire, an evaluation scale of the learning process and a participants' satisfaction questionnaire were used to evaluate and monitor the fieldwork learning project. RESULTS: Out of the 212 nurses who participated in the project, 119 (70%) completed it. The mean age of these participants was 48 years (± 7.98), and 83.5% were female. About half of the participants (52.0%, 55.4% and 45.0%, respectively) were good (a) at respecting deadlines, (b) at using the methodological instruments and (c) the information tools properly. Almost all nurses considered the project to be very relevant (96.4%). In regards to the project's quality, the nurses perceived it as excellent (51.0%) and very good (48.5%). Finally, the project was considered very useful or useful by 100% of nurses. CONCLUSIONS: The general satisfaction of nurses was high. The fieldwork learning was relevant and useful for developing educational skills in nurses. It would therefore be appropriate to use fieldwork learning in clinical settings to improve the existing experience of healthcare providers and thereby reduce the difficulties of transforming the knowledge from a theoretical to a practical level and to promote the development of new behaviours when the existing ones become obsolete or inefficient.