Bev Williams

Problem based learning in chronic disease management: A review of the research

OBJECTIVE To determine whether problem based learning (PBL) is an effective educational strategy in chronic disease management. METHODS The databases CINAHL, EMBASE, HealthStar, Medline and PubMed were searched for articles which focused on PBL and patient education or patient learning. RESULTS Individual studies using PBL as an intervention with chronic disease management reflect significant changes in cognitive and clinical outcomes among individuals experiencing diabetes, asthma, arthritis and coronary artery disease. CONCLUSION There is a need for more well designed studies that assess the impact of PBL on self-care management of a variety of chronic diseases. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS There is some evidence that PBL is effective in promoting self-care with individuals experiencing diabetes, arthritis, asthma and coronary artery disease.

Creating Cohesion Between the Discipline and Practice of Nursing Using Problem Based Learning

For at least four decades there has been concern about the discontinuity between the discipline and practice of nursing. The learning traditions in nursing, including the traditional organization of professional educational curricula with an emphasis on general education, could be contributing to this discontinuity. Problem Based Learning (PBL) has been identified as one way to facilitate greater cohesion between the discipline and practice of nursing. Nursing learners exposed to PBL are challenged to achieve professionally desired liberal learning outcomes and acquire knowledge and skill in the discipline of nursing by encountering key professional practice situations as the stimulus and focus of their classroom learning activity. By combining reflection on existing knowledge essential to understanding the situation with research for new knowledge, PBL reflects the process of knowledge generation. Through PBL learners can achieve a deeper understanding of nursing as a discipline, the relationship of nursing to other disciplines and cohesion between the discipline and practice of nursing.

Nursing students’ perceptions of preparation to engage in patient education

Patient teaching is a key component of graduate nursing practice. Nurses sometimes believe that their undergraduate teaching does not prepare them to engage in effective patient teaching. In addition, nursing students often do not use teaching resources when engaging in patient teaching. The aim of this focused ethnographic study was to determine if students in a CBL/PBL based learning undergraduate nursing program engage in patient teaching when they are in the clinical area. Focus groups and shorter individual interviews were used to ensure in-depth data collection. Data saturation was reached with a sample of 28 undergraduate students. Emerging themes included: Whose responsibility? When patient teaching does happen, when patient teaching does not happen and improving the culture of patient teaching in the teaching setting. It was clear that students in this context-based learning nursing teaching program valued and were engaged in patient teaching. However, they did not necessarily feel that they had been taught the skills necessary for engaging in effective patient teaching. They also expressed concern that workplace conditions for nurses were not always conducive to patient teaching.