Learning pathways: Levelling, scaffolding & mapping curriculum.

At one mid-sized research-intensive university in Western Canada, the Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) program recently underwent significant curriculum revisions (Epp et al., 2021). A constructivist approach was adopted to create opportunities for students to align knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSA) with prior learning to build a deeper understanding (Vygotsky, 1978). In congruence with constructivist theory, faculty developed several learning pathways as curriculum planning tools to strategically sequence student learning outcomes, facilitate student achievement of program learning outcomes, and improve curriculum integrity. The faculty developed a conceptual model of a learning pathway and identified several key program outcomes that would benefit from a curriculum review to ensure these concepts were adequately covered across the nursing program. Each learning pathway details curriculum mapping of the levelling and scaffolding of specific concepts and content to facilitate students in the acquisition of KSA through a progressive approach (Gazza & Hunker, 2012; Maguire, 2013). This article will profile the BSN Scholarly Writing Pathway and the BSN Psychomotor Pathway as exemplars.

An innovative leap: Embracing new pedagogical approaches for clinical education.

In response to increasingly complex care environments, a mid-sized research-intensive university in Western Canada engaged in an extensive curriculum redesign of the BSN program, including the development of an Innovative Clinical Learning Model. In this article, the authors share their experience of developing and implementing two innovative pedagogical approaches for clinical teaching in the medical surgical context. Program evaluation data indicated that these pedagogical strategies provided increased opportunities for timely application of theory in practice and facilitated students' development of clinical reasoning, skill mastery, and professional identities as accountable, responsible, ethical nurses.

Teaching & learning focused physical assessments: An innovative clinical support tool.

Over the years, nursing instructors have utilized multiple active learning activities to assist students in developing competence in physical assessments. Supportive peer evaluation, use of video technology as well as the use of standardized patients have been recognized as important instructional strategies for assessing and evaluating student performance promoting deeper learning, improved self-assessment, stronger critical thinking skills, and better accountability. Teaching nursing students physical assessment is often done with the use of a structured 'head to toe' approach. But in addition to learning 'head to toe assessments', there is a need for nurses to complete a focused assessment of the systems that are presenting health challenges for the patient. There are several tools or cheat sheets available to guide both the comprehensive 'head to toe' assessment and systems focused assessments but there are no tools outlining the process of doing focused assessments within a head-to-toe assessment. To address this need, one nursing teacher in a baccalaureate nursing program at a university in Western Canada decided to create a clinical support tool to guide learning of this critical clinical reasoning skill.

Radical transformation: Embracing constructivism and pedagogy for an innovative nursing curriculum.

To effectively navigate today's complex and rapidly changing health care environments, nurses require a high level of knowledge, sound psychomotor skills, diverse thinking and reasoning abilities, and a strong professional identity. The evidence showed that programs that offer students focused clinical practice experiences and offer students opportunities to 'think like a nurse' enable them to become sound practitioners. Faculty and staff at one mid-sized research-intensive university in Western Canada, engaged in an iterative process of rethinking the theoretical and pedagogical underpinnings of a BSN curriculum for educating nurses for the complexity of today's practice. Constructivist learning theory was chosen as the main underpinning of the revised curriculum. Furthermore, transformational learning theory guided the selection of several pedagogical approaches utilized throughout the program with the goal of inviting critical reflection and encouraging the development of competent, compassionate, ethical, and professional nurses. Additionally, we employed an innovative approach to clinical practicums where the process of learning is both integrated and intentional, and students are mentored to use prior knowledge in their decisions and clinical reasoning.

Teaching and learning activities to educate nursing students for interprofessional collaboration: A scoping review.

To prepare new graduates with the knowledge, skills, and attitudes to engage in effective interprofessional collaboration (IPC) in practice, healthcare professional programmes need to ensure their curriculum provides opportunities for interprofessional education (IPE) and IPC. To strengthen IPE within an undergraduate curriculum and meet the professional requirements set out by regulatory bodies to prepare new graduate nurses to achieve IPC competencies, a curriculum initiative was developed to expand IPE across the four years of the Baccalaureate of Science in Nursing (BSN) programme. The purpose of this scoping review was to identify published teaching-learning activities in undergraduate nursing programmes to inform the development and integration of IPE curricula. The literature included was identified by searching the following electronic databases: EMBASE and EBSCO (CINAHL, Medline, Education Research Complete, ERIC). The search was limited to articles with abstracts published between 2008 and 2016 in the English language. All ten studies that met inclusion criteria reported students' perceived interprofessional education as valuable in facilitating their achievement of IPC competencies. Interprofessional education is an approach for preparing nursing students with knowledge, skills, and attitudes to achieve IPC competencies and therefore, urgently needs to become more prevalent in nursing curricula. Educators can use a variety of IPE teaching-learning activities to support students' achievement of IPC competencies in order to prepare new practitioners to engage in effective IPC in a variety of healthcare milieus. Nurse educators are encouraged to intentionally integrate learning opportunities into current and future undergraduate nursing education to prepare collaborative ready graduate nurses.

Nurses' attitudes towards older people care: An integrative review.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To examine hospital nurses' attitudes towards caring for older adults and delineate associated factors contributing to their attitudes. BACKGROUND: Population ageing is of international significance. A nursing workforce able to care for the ageing population is critical for ensuring quality older adult care. A synthesis of research related to nurses' attitudes towards older adult care is important for informing care quality and the nursing workforce issues. METHODS: A systematic integrative review process guided the review. Cumulative Index of Nursing and Allied Health Literature and Medline databases were searched for primary research published between 2005-2017. A total of 1,690 papers were screened with 67 papers read in-depth and eight selected for this review that met the inclusion/exclusion criteria. RESULTS: Nurses' held coexisting positive and negative attitudes towards generic and specific aspects of older adult care. Negative attitudes, in particular, were directed at the characteristics of older adults, their care demands or reflected in nurses' approaches to care. Across jurisdictions, work environment, education, experience and demographics emerged as influences on nurses' attitudes. CONCLUSION: There is a paucity of research examining nurses' attitudes towards older adult care. The limited evidence indicates that attitudes towards older people care are complex and contradictory. Influences on nurses' attitudes need further study individually and collectively to build a strong evidence base. Interventional studies are needed as are the development of valid and reliable instruments for measuring nurses' attitudes towards older adult care. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: Bolstering postgraduate gerontological preparation is critical for promoting nurses' attitudes towards older adult care. Creating age-friendly work environments, including appropriate resource allocation, is important to support older people care and facilitate positive nursing attitudes.

Teaching child growth and development: the Christmas shoebox.

Teaching growth and development to nursing students can be dry, uninteresting, and labor-intensive. Engaging students in learning this material was the challenge of a short, 4-week pediatric experience. Students use growth and development knowledge to select toys and activities that fit in a shoebox and explain to their classmates the rationale for their selection. The Christmas shoebox activity increases their ability to transfer knowledge to both the examination questions and the clinical setting and provides a charitable service to the community.

The value of reflective journaling in undergraduate nursing education: a literature review.

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this literature review was to ascertain the evidence for the use of reflective journaling as a tool to promote the pedagogical strategy of reflection for the purpose of learning from practice for practice in undergraduate nursing education. DESIGN: Concept-centric. DATA SOURCES: The literature review involved structured searches of all OVID gateway databases, EBSCO host databases, and Blackwell Synergy. Qualitative and Quantitative Studies from 1992 to 2006 were included if they focused on reflective journaling in undergraduate clinical education. REVIEW METHODS: Due to the vast plethora of literature on reflection, keywords were utilized to focus the search. Approximately 150 abstracts were reviewed for primary sources of research. A total of nine studies met the inclusion criteria. The review subsequently divided the literature into four content themes allowing for appraisal and analysis of the findings, followed by summary and key recommendations for nursing education and research. RESULTS: There was evidence that educators struggle to incorporate reflective processes into education; however, the research provided rationale and support for engaging undergraduate students in the reflective process. Researchers found reasonable levels of reflection in undergraduate students' journaling and educators reported students' learning as a result of reflective journaling. Further to this, there was evidence that writing reflectively improved over time; a learned skill also dependent on a good facilitator and trust. Unfortunately, there was a paucity of research that explored the undergraduate nurses' experiences with the process of having to create written communication, with a critical reflective focus on practice. CONCLUSION: Nursing educators are correct in pursuing the teaching and learning of the reflective process in undergraduate nursing education. Nurse educators need to utilize various tools and strategies for facilitating the growth of undergraduate students into reflective practitioners. Indeed there was only limited evidence to support reflective journaling as an appropriate tool to promote reflection for the purpose of learning from practice for practice in undergraduate nursing education. Research that provides insight into the undergraduate student experience and perceptions of reflective journaling is needed to facilitate the structuring and use of reflective journaling as a tool in undergraduate nursing education.