A study of the teaching and learning of the biological sciences in nurse education

Abstract

The study was designed to explore the teaching and learning of the biological sciences in nurse education in an attempt to identify why some students are failing to support their practice with theory. Questionnaires were sent to third-year nurse students (n = 140) and nurse teachers (n = 43) in three schools of nursing. Several findings emerged from the study: (a) the balance between the behavioural and biological sciences in nurse education was perceived by the students as being too much in favour of the behavioural sciences; (b) the level of knowledge from the biological science taught was perceived by the students as being inappropriate for RGN training; (c) teachers felt inadequately prepared to teach the biological sciences and, similarly, nurse students felt inadequately prepared in these sciences; and (d) self-directed methods of teaching and learning, although used most frequently, were perceived by the students as being the most ineffective.

Re-thinking microbiology/infection control education to enhance the practice-readiness of health professional students: More than just a curriculum issue

“…The science education literature also identifies that, as with other areas of science, many nursing students find learning microbiology difficult (Courtenay, 1991). Becoming conversant with its specific terminology has been likened to learning a foreign language (Lumpkin Allen, 1997).…”

“…Students tend to assess the relevance of science subjects in the curricula according to their interpretation of nursing, which for most, is a handson practical profession. Courtenay (1991) surveyed a group of third year nursing students (n=140) and nurse teachers (n=43) regarding their perceptions of subjects from the biological sciences. When asked to rank the subjects: anatomy, physiology, psychology, pharmacology, microbiology and sociology in order of importance in the preparation of a registered nurse, over half of the nursing students (51%) considered anatomy to be the most important subject compared with 26% of their teachers.…”

A Preliminary Report on the Differences in the Perceived Impacts of Undergraduate Bioscience Knowledge on Clinical Practice Among Korean RNs

“…Myoung-Ae Choe, RN, PhD 1 , Smi Choi-Kwon, RN, PhD 1 , Kyung Ja Song, RN, PhD 2 dents as being too much in favor of the behavioral sciences (Courtenay, 1991).…”

“…Recently, studies have found that nursing students themselves are pointing to insufficient training in physiology as a major cause of their failure to understand much of the clinical phenomena they encounter in the hospital setting (Akinsanya, 1987;Courtenay, 1991). Moreover, the balance between the behavioral and biological sciences in nursing education is perceived by stu-…”

Parallels of Lived Experiences in Learning: A Scientist Learning Qualitative Research and Nurses Learning Science

“…There have been a number of published articles addressing the teaching and learning of sciences in nursing (Courtenay, 1991;Glaister, Davis, Tulloch & Piercey, 1998;Wharrad, Allcock & Chapple, 1994). Studies have considered such issues as student perception (Jordan, Davies & Green, 1999), comparative difficulty (Caon & Treagust, 1993) and attitude to learning (Thornton, 1997) and in general show that the sciences have been taught in a haphazard fashion and suggest that students have a poor attitude towards the relevance of sciences to nursing.…”