Integrative Review of Blogging: Implications for Nursing Education

Abstract

This integrative review explores the question, "What is known about blogging as a pedagogical tool in nursing education?" The qualitative methods of this review are based in social constructivism and collaborative learning principles. Results of a literature search that used inclusion and exclusion criteria identified 15 articles, five of which were related to nursing. Deductive analysis was focused on capturing data under three broad themes that reflect collaborative learning principles with respect to blogging and microblogging. These themes include (a) learning occurs through dialogue and collaboration, (b) learning involves challenging opportunities that stimulate learner engagement, and (c) learning is a social process. Analysis indicates that blogging has the potential to enhance knowledge acquisition, provide stimulating learning opportunities, and recognize the social aspects of learning. However, further research is needed to fully understand the development, implementation, and evaluation of blogging on student knowledge acquisition in nursing education.

Blogging as a tool for the acquisition and dissemination of knowledge in health sciences: a preliminary evaluation

“…This is reflected in the current growth of what some authors have referred to as the "medical blogosphere" (Kovic, Lulic, & Brumini, 2008): a large collection of blogs dealing with all kinds of health-related issues, from general aspects to such specific issues as Palliative Care (Ngwenya & Mills, 2014) or Diabetes (Kaufman, 2010). Blogs are even used in training biomedical students, frequently to engage learners and enhance education, because students may still achieve benefits by engaging in emotional disclosure and personal reflection (Becker & Freberg, 2014;Garrity, Jones, VanderZwan, de la Rocha, & Epstein, 2014;Sterling, Leung, Wright, & Bishop, 2017). For all these reasons, the boom in the use of blogs in university training programmes in Health Sciences seems to be just starting, especially as more and more teachers recognise that if this is to be a commonly-used tool in the future, its management must be standardised during the years of university learning.…”

Nursing lives in the blogosphere: A thematic analysis of anonymous online nursing narratives

“…Blomberg (2016) described the content of blog entries written by different nurses on a Swedish healthcare union magazine's website. A common recommendation in nursing education literature was the idea of using blogs as a learning tool in nursing education for self-reflection and collaboration (Anderson, 2010;Casella, Mills, & Usher, 2014;Garrity, Jones, Vanderzwan, De La Rocha, & Epstein, 2014;Grassley & Bartoletti, 2009;Lin & Shen, 2013;Papastavrou, Hamari, Fuster, Istomina, & Salminen, 2016;Watson, 2012). Several of these studies illustrate how nursing blogs are an international phenomenon, appearing in Spain (Brito-Brito et al, 2015), Sweden (Blomberg, 2016) and Taiwan (Lin & Shen, 2013), among other countries.…”

Blogging as an Innovative Method of Peer-to-Peer Educational Sharing

“…27 Blogging also promotes the development of a community of learning. [3][4][5]7,20,23,25,[27][28][29] Blogs are useful in professional networking, allowing nurses and other professionals to make connections and develop relationships with other colleagues. 4,27,30 Using a blog allows for discourse and dialogue between colleagues and educators and provides support at a peer level.…”

“…19,31 Finally, blogging affords nurses an opportunity to engage and connect through learning experiences. 8,28 Lifelong learning is essential for nurses, and effective distribution is key to the success of any learning method. 3,7,8,26,31 Research shows that nurses are using social media.…”