[An overview of clinical practice education models for nursing students: a literature review].

. An overview of education models for nursing students clinical practice: a literature review.

INTRODUCTION: In the past decade the nursing education research developed and tested a number of clinical educational models.

AIM: To describe the most used clinical educational models and to analyze their strengths and weaknesses in fostering the learning processes of nursing students.

METHODS: A literature review of studies on clinical education models for undergraduate nursing student, published in English, was performed. Electronic database Pubmed and Cinhal were searched until November 2016.

RESULTS: Nineteen studies were included in the review and five clinical education model identified: 1) the university tutor supervises a group of students and selects learning opportunities; 2) a clinical expert/tutor nurse works side by side with one student; 3) the student is responsible of his/her learning process with the supervision of the ward staff; 4) a clinical tutor of the ward is dedicated to the students' supervision; 5) the student is not assigned to a ward but clinical learning opportunities matched with his/her needs are selected by the university.

CONCLUSIONS: All the clinical education models shared the focus on students' learning needs. Their specific characteristics better suit them for different stages of students' education and to different clinical settings.