Dr. Beth Hallmark and Dr. Sharon Dowdy are co-authors of an article published this month in Nursing Education Perspectives, a bi-monthly journal of the National League for Nursing.  Dr. Hallmark is director of the College of Health Sciences Simulation Center and Dr. Dowdy is an associate professor in the School of Nursing.

The study explored the effects of deliberate practice on the retention of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) psychomotor skills among nursing students. The practice sessions were short, six minutes a session one time a month. Differences in performance between students who had deliberate practice and a control group, with no practice beyond the initial training, were compared every three months for one year. The intervention group performed better than the control over the 12 months. There is a need in nursing education for deliberate practice of relevant and high-use skills for students to improve their performance and gradually develop their expertise.

The article can be viewed at the National League for Nursing website.