Nursing students perceptions of their role in the learning process

Abstract

<p>Nurse educators have identified oversaturated curriculum as a factor influencing adequate&nbsp;preparation of nursing students for beginning practice. The dynamic nature of healthcare&nbsp;contributed to content laden curriculum. As advances in knowledge, science, and&nbsp;technology emerged, nurse educators&rsquo; added content to nursing education curriculum in&nbsp;an effort to prepare students sufficiently with the knowledge and skills needed as a new<br />nurse. To address the issue of content saturation, the current trend in nursing education is&nbsp;to move from a traditional curriculum to a concept-based curriculum. The concept-based&nbsp;curriculum approach emphasizes student centered learning; student centered learning&nbsp;employs teaching strategies that rely on students taking an active role in their learning.<br />The problem is student centered teaching strategies require students to recognize and&nbsp;adapt to their role in the learning process.<br />The purpose of this qualitative, phenomenological design study was to explore&nbsp;Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) student perceptions of their role (their lived&nbsp;experiences) in the learning process. Awareness of student perceptions of their role and&nbsp;the faculty role in learning will inform nursing education practice. For this study, the&nbsp;researcher interviewed 18 students enrolled in a BSN program at a small, private, faithbased&nbsp;university in Texas. Interview questions asked by the researcher elicited student&nbsp;perceptions of their role and of the faculty role in the learning process. Data analysis&nbsp;revealed two primary themes and one secondary theme related to the student role and&nbsp;three primary themes related to the faculty role. Primary themes emerging related to&nbsp;student perceptions of their role in the learning process were preparedness and&nbsp;engagement; the secondary theme was attitudes. Primary themes emerging related to<br />student perceptions of the faculty role were relational, invested, and teaching. Awareness and understanding of student perceptions assist faculty to better facilitate student learning&nbsp;and achieve the desired outcome of well-prepared new nurses.&nbsp;</p>