Creating Community: Strengthening Education and Practice Partnerships through Communities of Practice

Nursing students frequently experience disconnectedness, marginalization and antagonism during their clinical experiences. These experiences limit their ability to fully engage in the social learning that is important to the development of professional skill and identity. Current North American education models emphasize the separation between practice and education, with negative consequences for students and their learning. Re-envisioning the relationship between education and practice using Wenger’s Communities of Practice model promotes the development of mutually beneficial, capacity-building relationships where learning and growth are goals for students and staff alike. Re-creating units as learning organizations committed to learning, reflection, dialogue and quality improvement redefines the education-service relationship and changes the roles of educators and practitioners with respect to the unit learning needs. Wenger’s Communities of Practice model redefines the apprenticeship model of nursing education in ways that allow for more meaningful, effective learning relationships between clinicians, educators and students.