Along with pointing out at the existing gap between the nursing theory and practice, modern scholars emphasize the importance of taking into consideration the peculiarities of certain student groups while developing educational programs for specific groups of nursing students. This paper will discuss the most influential factors and the main steps which need to be taken for developing an effective educational plan for health care students.
Taking into account the diversity of student population, it can be stated that the flexibility of educators and programs is crucial for complying with the needs of the wide range of learners. The first step in constructing an effective action plan is reviewing the latest theoretical studies and defining the main parameters of the student learning preferences and the desired learning modes which need to be taken into consideration for selecting the most appropriate teaching strategies.
The study conducted by Chan et al (2006) in Hong Kong universities focused on the seven main factors affecting the learning outcomes of particular learning programs. These factors comprised the learning atmosphere, the level of learners’ autonomy, material, motivational aspects, direct instructions and structure of the programs.
All these parameters should be taken into account by nursing educators for exploring the specific needs of particular groups and adapting the programs to their peculiar demands. Chan et al (2006) concluded that most Chinese students have developed receptive skills, but may have difficulties with expressing their thoughts in English. Thus, even the ethnic origin and cultural background of learners should be taken into consideration for selecting the most appropriate teaching mode and strategies.
Choi et al (2009) emphasized the importance of giving serious consideration to students’ cultural and learning experience in constructing effective educational programs. The evidence shows that the effectiveness of the same strategies and learning exercises can vary in different classrooms, depending upon the learners’ peculiar features. Meehan-Andrews (2009) conducted a research for exploring the preferred and the most effective learning modes in nursing students.
Regardless of the findings that kinesthetic was the learning mode preferred by the majority of learners, and the practical session was regarded as the most effective teaching strategy, Meehan-Andrews (2009) concluded that there is no single right way for providing the materials to nursing students. Thus, the investigation of the learners’ needs and preferences along with the readiness to combine several different approaches is the first step in the action plan for designing an effective educational program for nursing students.
The second step after defining the cultural background, preferred learning mode, learning experience, and needs is the evaluation of the level of communication skills. Taking into account the specific demands of the nursing profession and the importance of successful team work and nurse-patient communication, special emphasis should be put upon the development of communication skills in students. Chant et al (2002) noted that the communication errors can cause a lot of troubles to the clinical setting.
For this reason, focusing on the development of communication and interpersonal skills in medical students, teachers will be able to improve not only the staff and patients’ satisfaction with the level of professionalism of the future registered nurses, but also improve the healthcare outcomes in general. While conducting a research on the student’s preferred learning styles and experience, a teacher can also identify the level of their communication skills and detect the gaps which should be filled in future.
In that regard, the role of nursing teacher is central to only structuring and organizing the learning process but also developing students’ interpersonal skills and cooperation abilities as a significant part of their professional expertise. Landers (2008) admitted that healthcare educators play an important role in bridging the gap between nursing theory and practice and can prepare students for the beginning of their professional career in real life clinical setting.
Recognizing the importance of not only acquiring theoretical knowledge, but also preparing for the implementation of theoretical data in professional practice, educators should provide students with opportunities for developing their interpersonal skills and designing the learning activities which would be favorable for improving the students’ communication skills.
Thus, the second step of the action plan is detecting the level of the students’ communication skills and incorporating the activities aimed at improving them into the educational program.
The third step is the choice of the most effective approach to the nursing education for designing the most appropriate activities. A wide range of recent studies have demonstrated the benefits of problem-based learning (PBL) for clinical nursing education. Conducting a study at a Swedish university, Ehrenberg & Haggblom (2007) concluded that the PBL approach to the organization of the learning process has positive effects upon the learning outcomes.
As opposed to the obsolete strategies which mostly focus on the acquisition of theoretical knowledge, PBL allows nursing students prepare for the beginning of their professional career which will require their profound skills of applying theoretical knowledge in the process of expert decision making.
Thus, imitating the real life working situations in the learning process, nursing educators can prepare their students for the challenges they will face in their professional daily practice. Barrow et al (2002) assumed that disregarding the additional stress for the students associated with the change of the learning mode and the increased expectations, the PBL approach has positive effects on the students’ learning outcomes.
Though this mode shifts the burden of directing their learning upon students, the increased academic load is worth the corresponding improved outcomes. Jerlock et al (2003) noted that ability to make decisions using their expertise as well as inductive and deductive learning strategies for collecting the necessary data and evaluating it is crucial for medical practitioners.
Thus, solving the learning problems, students will be able to prepare to the situations in their professional practice. Dochy et al (2003) devoted their study to the exploration of the positive and negative sides of PBL and concluded that despite of the fact that through the implementation of PBL approach, students gain slightly less knowledge, but tend to remember larger part of the acquired materials.
In general, it can be concluded that regardless of certain disadvantages of PBL, including the increased load and additional stress for educators and students, this approach can enhance the effectiveness of the nursing programs and has a positive impact upon the students’ outcomes. Thus, the third step in the discussed action plan is the consideration of the PBL approach for developing the students’ professional skills which would be required for meeting the challenges in their daily professional practice.
One more significant component which should be taken into account while developing nursing education programs is the development of reflective skills in nursing students. Burton (2001) admitted that the assignments aimed at developing the reflective skills in nursing students should become central to the heath care educational programs because the practice of reflection fosters the enhancement of students’ professional knowledge.
The developed reflective skills developed during the student years and afterwards would allow the practitioner to become a more critical thinker and implement an evidence-based approach to making professional decisions and taking actions. With the current efforts to bridge the gap between nursing theory and practice, none of the sides of the learning process should be underestimated. It is doubtless that abilities to apply theoretical knowledge in practice are critical for becoming an expert in the sphere.
Still, the process of acquiring theoretical knowledge is equally important for enhancing the professional expertise as the PBL approach and development of communication skills. For this reason, serious consideration should be given to proper design of theoretical parts of the courses. Cotton (2002) pointed out at the diversity of perspectives and dimensions which need to be taken into account for developing the appropriate assignments and enhancing the reflective skills in nursing students.
Thus, proper design of theoretical assignments and incorporation of tasks aimed at developing students’ reflective skills is the fourth step in the action plan for designing an effective educational program and bridging the gap between nursing theory and practice.
Summing up the above-mentioned data on the most influential factors recognized by the contemporary scholars in the nursing education, it can be concluded that the preferred learning mode, cultural background, PBL in the practical part and the development of reflective skills in theoretical part are the main steps which should be takes for developing an effective program.
Reference List
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