Project 2000 and diploma level education for pre-registration students have been criticised for their lack of emphasis on practical nursing skills. This article describes how teacher-led placements can equip these students with the requisite practical skills in a reflective manner that enables them to relate theory to practice. The author argues that only through critical thinking can students obtain a relevant understanding of the knowledge which underpins both theory and practice

The ‘theory-practice divide' is debated regularly in articles on the education of nurses (Cave 1994. Ferguson and Jinks 1994, Jordan 1994, McCaugherty 1992). The term has entered the vocabulary of nurse educationalists and is used to describe the dissonance or tension between theory and practice.