Structured experiential learning exercises: a facilitation to more effective learning in clinical settings.

Structured experiential exercises can help to make students more aware of the learning skills required in each of the four phases of experiential learning. These exercises should be structured to increase the trust and communication between the clinical nursing instructor and the students, as well as to assist the students to understand better their own and others' values and group processes. We believe that exercises that fulfill these objectives enable the students to adjust better to the learning styles required in a clinical course. Moreover, students who obtain increased awareness of their own values and those of others may become more effective members of the nursing profession.