| Learning Objective #1: Describe an interactive, online educational innovation strategy to increase the reflection on and sharing of clinical journals | |||
| Learning Objective #2: Describe the effect of online-directed clinical journaling on discussion, mentoring, critical thinking, and socialization into nursing practice |
Statement of the Problem: Clinical journaling is an accepted teaching methodology in basic and advanced practice nursing education. Journals are rich sources of clinical experiences, decision making, and information but often are not shared. A novel interactive online strategy, online directed journaling, was incorporated into two sequential clinical nursing courses to increase the sharing of experiences and promote discussion, mentoring, critical thinking, and socialization into advanced practice nursing.
Description of the Innovation: A Blackboard course web site was designed with directed journaling built into a Discussion Board. All students were responsible for keeping a weekly online journal including clinical hours and activities, response to a discussion topic, and individual comments. Students were required to read and comment on the journaling of at least two other students per week.
Results and Discussion: Six graduate students with a mean age of 46 (27-57) and mean years of practice of 21 (5-37) completed the journaling. Thirty percent more journaling was completed than required. A 10 item survey assessed the perceived effectiveness of the journaling on a 1 to 5 point Likert-type scale. All survey items were rated between 4.66 and 5.0 representing an exceedingly positive evaluation of the journaling. Positive narrative comments were also recorded. Themes derived from an analysis of the journaling text supported the journaling as a highly effective for discussion, mentoring, critical thinking, and socialization. Interactive strategies which promote the sharing of important and pivotal educational experiences should become the gold standard of journaling for clinical nursing education.
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