A descriptive study of the relationships between learning styles and demographic characteristics of student registered nurse anesthetists and certified registered nurse anesthetist clinical instructors in nurse anesthesia education programs

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to describe the relationships between the learning styles and demographic characteristics of student registered nurse anesthetists (SRNAs) and certified registered nurse anesthetist (CRNA) clinical instructors in nurse anesthesia education programs (NAEPs). The demographic characteristics of age, gender, highest degree held, years of registered nurse experience, registered nurse specialty, years of critical care nursing experience, months of nurse anesthesia training, and number of anesthesia cases completed were analyzed for the students. The demographic characteristics of age, gender, highest degree held, years of registered nurse experience, registered nurse specialty, years of critical care nursing experience, years of nurse anesthesia experience, and years of nurse anesthesia teaching experience were analyzed for the instructors.

The participants of the study consisted of a purposive sampling of 221 students and 216 instructors. Data were collected by mailing the Kolb Learning Style Inventory and the demographic information sheet to the program directors of each NAEP who agreed to participate in the study. The response rate was 56.12% for the students and 42% for the instructors. The number of usable responses was 124 student nurse anesthetists and 90 nurse anesthesia instructors.

Frequency distribution tables were used to display the number of students and instructors having each of the four learning styles. The mean and standard deviations were calculated in order for the learning dimension scores to describe the overall learning styles of both students and instructors. The relationships between the learning styles and demographic characteristics were measured by the Chi-square and Phi correlation statistics. The overall learning styles were assimilator and converger for the students and assimilator for the instructors. No statistically significant relationship were identified between learning styles and each of the eight demographic characteristics for both the students and instructors. Thus, the researcher recommends a longitudinal study of the learning styles of SRNAs and CRNA clinical instructors using a larger, more representative group in different geographical locations to enhance learning in the clinical setting.