Aims
To evaluate the effect of an active learning program on competency of senior students.

Background
Active learning strategies have been used to help students achieve desired nursing competency, but their effectiveness has not been systematically examined.

Design
A descriptive, cross-sectional comparative design was used. Two cohort group comparisons using t-test were made: one in an active learning group and the other in a traditional learning group.

Methods
A total of 147 senior nursing students near graduation participated in this study: 73 in 2010 and 74 in 2013. The active learning program incorporated high-fidelity simulation, situation-based case studies, standardized patients, audio-video playback, reflective activities and technology such as a SmartPad-based program.

Results
The overall scores of the nursing competency in the active group were significantly higher than those in the traditional group. Of five overall subdomains, the scores of the special and general clinical performance competency, critical thinking and human understanding were significantly higher in the active group than in the traditional group. Importance-performance analysis showed that all five subdomains of the active group clustered in the high importance and high performance quadrant, indicating significantly better achievements. In contrast, the students in the traditional group showed scattered patterns in three quadrants, excluding the low importance and low performance quadrants. This pattern indicates that the traditional learning method did not yield the high performance in most important areas.

Conclusion
The findings of this study suggest that an active learning strategy is useful for helping undergraduate students to gain competency.

Competency and an active learning program in undergraduate nursing education

The flip side of traditional nursing education: A literature review

This study was conducted to identify the educational effects of a blended e-learning program for graduating nursing students on self-efficacy, problem solving, and psychomotor skills for core basic nursing skills. A one-group pretest/posttest quasi-experimental design was used with 79 nursing students in Korea. The subjects took a conventional 2-week lecture-based practical course, together with spending an average of 60 minutes at least twice a week during 2 weeks on the self-guided e-learning content for basic cardiopulmonary resuscitation and defibrillation using Mosby's Nursing Skills database. Self- and examiner-reported data were collected between September and November 2014 and analyzed using descriptive statistics, paired t test, and Pearson correlation. The results showed that subjects who received blended e-learning education had improved problem-solving abilities (t = 2.654) and self-efficacy for nursing practice related to cardiopulmonary resuscitation and defibrillation (t = 3.426). There was also an 80% to 90% rate of excellent postintervention performance for the majority of psychomotor skills, but the location of chest compressions, compression rate per minute, artificial respiration, and verification of patient outcome still showed low levels of performance. In conclusion, blended E-learning, which allows self-directed repetitive learning, may be more effective in enhancing nursing competencies than conventional practice education.

Effects of Blended Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation and Defibrillation E-learning on Nursing Students' Self-efficacy, Problem Solving, and Psychomotor Skills.

Context

Curriculum renewal is an essential and continual process for undergraduate medical education programmes. Although there is substantial literature on the critical role of leadership in successful curricular change, the voices of frontline faculty teachers implementing such change have not been explored. We aimed not only to examine and understand the perceptions of faculty members as they face curriculum change, but also to explore the influences on their engagement with change.



Methods

We used a constructivist grounded approach in this exploratory study. Sixteen faculty members teaching in the pre-clinical years were interviewed on their perspectives on a recent curricular change in the undergraduate medical programme at a single Canadian medical school. Constant comparative analysis was conducted to identify recurring themes.



Results

Faculty teachers’ engagement with curriculum change was influenced by three critical tensions during three phases of the change: (i) tension between individual and institutional values, which was prominent as change was being introduced; (ii) tension between drivers of change and restrainers of change, which was prominent as change was being enacted, and (iii) tension between perceived gains and perceived losses, which was prominent as teachers reflected on change once implemented.



Conclusions

We propose a model of faculty engagement with curricular change that elucidates the need to consider individual experiences and motivations within the broader context of the institutional culture of medical schools. Importantly, if individual and institutional values are misaligned, barriers to change outweigh facilitators, or perceived losses prevail; subsequently faculty teachers' engagement may be threatened, exposing the medical education programme to risk.

Exploring frontline faculty perspectives after a curriculum change.

In 2010, the American Nurses Association (ANA) added an environmental health standard to the ANA Scope and Standards of Practice requiring that nurses implement environmental health strategies in nursing practice. To prepare nurse educators to integrate environmental health at all educational levels, nursing faculty members from the Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments developed environmental health competencies and curricular recommendations that address this need. Internet URLs are included for environmental health curricula for each level of nursing education.

Developing curriculum recommendations for environmental health in nursing.

Reports indicating problems with quality and safety in our healthcare institutions have led to a change in how the science of safety and delivery of high-quality patient care is taught. Changing how students are educated requires nurse educators to be innovative in bridging the gap between education and practice. This article describes replicable, innovative strategies to equip faculty to lead a change in nursing curricula using Kotter's 8 steps of change.

Deborah S. Davis

Papers

A time for change: QSENizing the curriculum.