By Rebecca Oglesby, DNP, RN, Faculty Nurse Consultant, Kaplan Nursing
It appears the ”perfect storm” has occurred in nursing education: 1) the NCLEX® difficulty increased greatly in 2013; 2) more nursing students are in the millennial age bracket; 3) technology has increased abundantly. For those of us who graduated from nursing school over 10 years ago, we remember a much different classroom – and student! Many of us learned from filmstrips, transparencies and lecture. Did we argue with our faculty about grades or the way the class was conducted? We dared not! Today’s open-minded student has been raised in a much faster pace of life with constant contact, including everything and everybody. Similar to the quick expansion of the drive-through fast food industry, students want the information quickly, and in an entertaining method so they can go on to something else more fun.
Because the NCLEX® exam is now more difficult, a truly purposeful study process is more essential now than ever. However, many students sitting in nursing classrooms (waiting to receive that first hospital paycheck) do not understand the preparational effort required to pass the exam. How are faculty to calm the storm and mesh together the NCLEX® preparation, millennial thought processes and the “selfie” student? Let us think back to what did work and what will work today. What were some “fun” times you had in nursing school? Was it study groups? Clinical? Lunching with peers? These are all connecting situations with others. It was true for the past and holds true for today. What are some ways for students to learn together and still have the fun they want? (Price, 2009).
Classroom — Using questions in class is an easy way to hear from students versus the traditional lecture and power point presentation. Select questions that are focused on the topics of the day and present those to the class. To keep the students connected, try one of the new phone apps that students can click in their answer, or place them in small groups to defend why an answer would be correct or incorrect. It allows the student an opportunity to think through situations and increase their critical thinking. Faculty should not be concerned that they themselves do not know the answer, as it is the student’s job to look it up and discuss it out loud, by using texts or websites. Remember your first year working as a nurse, how you looked up things at home after seeing something new? Students need to know how to get answers once they graduate (Roediger, Adam, Smith, 2011).
Clinicals – do they know how to talk to patients correctly? Take a few of the topics from questions in class and have students role play as a patient and nurse. Can they explain an upcoming procedure? Can they talk with an upset family member? Can they explain why two medications cannot be given together? Can they report an impending situation to a physician?
Study groups are a great way for students to keep connected, either physically together or by a Facebook page. Questions can be posted to the site and students can answer, comment, or discuss. It actually becomes a form of remediation. They are reviewing what they know and how they think.
Faculty can take charge of this “storm” and have a peaceful landing onshore – with great NCLEX® pass rates! Connect students versus keeping them disconnected. By opening up the classroom and mirror image the methods that students really do study in today’s world, it will free up faculty from hours of PowerPoint creations, will open up students’ minds to explore and will still keep them connected to their technology/peers. Feel free to ask your Nurse Consultant any questions to help you use the Kaplan resources and make the learning fun and productive!
References
Price, C. (2009). Why don’t my students think I’m groovy?: The new “R”s for engaging millennial learners. The Teaching Professor, 23.
Roberts, D., Newman, L. & Schwartzstein, R. (2012). Twelve tips for facilitating millennials’ learning. Med Teach, 34(4), 274-8. doi: 10.3109/0142159X.2011.613498
Roediger, H., Adam, P., & Smith, M. (2011). Ten benefits of testing and their applications to educational practice. Psychology of Learning and Motivation. Retrieved from http://psych.wustl.edu/memory/Roddy%20article%20PDF%27s/BC_Roediger%20et%20al%20%282011%29_PLM.pdf?utm_content=buffer12cde&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer
Sanders, S. (2012). How nursing students study. Retrieved from https://www.kaptest.com/pdf_files/Kaplan-Nursing_How-Nursing-Students-Study_11-2012.pdf
