The Virtual Tutor Project: A Student-Friendly Guide to Clinical Skills

Abstract Using a variety of different teaching methods is an important educational strategy to facilitate learning. There was a need to provide effective education to nursing and midwifery students that used current technology, and was user-friendly. The aim of the Virtual Tutor project was to enhance nursing and midwifery students' learning of key clinical skills: inserting a female urinary catheter, adult resuscitation and priming an intravenous therapy line, using step by step videos for students' self-directed use. Three ‘how to' videos of the clinical skills were made and embedded into the undergraduate nursing and midwifery clinical subjects. Evaluative feedback was gained from students and the project team. Surveys were completed by students after they had used one or more of the videos. The results showed that the use of the Virtual Tutor videos was helpful in enhancing the student's experience of learning clinical skills, and most students stated that they would access the videos again for self-directed study. The conclusion was that practical, accessible videos of how to perform common clinical skills are a useful learning tool for nursing and midwifery students.