Monday, 30 October 2017
Nursing students who belong to Generation Z (born after 1990) bring challenges to the nursing classroom. Human connectivity and social media play integral roles in the daily lives of this new generation. Managing Generation Z requires a shift in educational effort on broad skills such as work habits, interpersonal communication, and critical thinking and an integral investment in technical training. Students in undergraduate nursing education courses come to the class with varying levels of educational, life, and practice experience. There are many approaches to college teaching that counter the traditional lecture and maximize student learning through experiential and engaging techniques (McKeachie & Svinicki, 2013). Students require an introduction to the material through textbook reading before they are able to engage in critical discussions, yet reading adherence varies widely among nursing students. The use of Flipped Classroom techniques requires students to better prepare for class, which allows instructors to spend more time modeling, watching, and correcting as students apply concepts in the classroom. This presentation explores the use of reflective journals as a Flipped Classroom technique to increase reflective thinking and reading adherence. In today’s complex healthcare delivery system, registered nurses are challenged to deliver evidence-based care and commit to lifelong learning. Reflection on practice and an awareness of self has been recommended as ways to enhance clinical competence and should begin during initial training. A competent reflective nursing student repeatedly reflects on experience and is capable of reflecting-in-action, continually learning from experience to the benefit of future actions. Students who are taught reflective practices are statically shown to be safer practitioners. Reflective practice is a way of self- examination in which the individual reviews and examines what has happened in their practice as a mean of professional growth. Reflective journaling is an effective teaching tool that can help students become more fully aware in educational practices which can be applied to clinical decision making. This method offers a new lens on traditional pedagogy in nursing education, that can aid in critical thinking and application of concepts in the new generation of nurses.