Student Perceptions of Presenting a Case Study on Facebook

Background: Members of the millennial generation, as technology natives, show a strong preference for informatics and technology-rich educational environments (Schmitt, Sims-Giddens, & Booth, 2012). Furthermore, informatics has been identified as a necessary component of undergraduate nursing education to prepare nursing students to practice in an increasingly technology-rich healthcare environment (AACN, 2008; Cronenwett, Sherwood, & Gelmon, 2009; NLN, 2008). As a pervasive component of twenty-first century life, social media offers an innovative platform to engage students in their learning. Although various forms of social media have been documented as teaching strategies in collegiate education, there is very limited research exploring the use of social media in nursing education (Ross & Myers, in press). The limited nursing education literature suggests that students enjoy using social media as a teaching strategy (Morley, 2014; Stephens & Gunther, 2016). Additionally, social media demonstrates potential as a platform for interaction and collaboration among students which supports peer-learning (Chan & Nyback, 2015; Garrett & Cutting, 2012; Morley, 2014; Tower, Blacklock, Watson, Heffernan, & Tronoff, 2015). There is no existing nursing education literature that explores student perceptions or outcomes with the use of Facebook as a platform to present patient case study data.

Purpose: The purpose of this descriptive, qualitative study was to understand baccalaureate nursing students’ perceptions of the use of Facebook as a platform to present patient case study data.

Procedure: Nineteen baccalaureate nursing students enrolled in an Introduction to Professional Nursing Practice course in a private, Catholic University in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States (U.S.) participated in the study. A simulated patient was created on Facebook. The simulated patient’s Facebook page was maintained by a Research Assistant. At the completion of the didactic portion of the Teaching and Learning unit, students were instructed to “friend” the simulated patient on Facebook and follow her posts in between class sessions. After following the simulated patient on Facebook for two days, students worked in pairs in-class to develop a teaching plan based upon data collected from the simulated patient’s Facebook page. After the completion of this activity, participants completed a researcher-developed survey including nine Likert-style and five open-ended questions to determine their perceptions of this teaching strategy.

Results: Overall, students responded positively to the presentation of case study information on Facebook. Five themes that emerged from the qualitative data were: 1) realism, 2) relatability, 3) engagement, 4) uniqueness, and 5) desire for expansion.

Discussion: The results from this descriptive, qualitative research study suggest that baccalaureate nursing students respond positively to the use of Facebook as a platform to present patient case study data. As the demographics, preferences, and learning styles of undergraduate nursing students change, nursing education strategies must likewise evolve to meet the learners’ needs. Given the millennial student’s preference for technology-driven active learning in collegiate education, it is imperative that nurse educators explore innovative, technological teaching strategies to engage these students both inside and outside the classroom. As the most frequently used social media site, Facebook offers a freely available platform to foster student engagement and active application of course material that is well received by students. Because of the dearth of evidence supporting the use of social media as a teaching strategy, this remains an important area for nursing education research. More empirical evidence is needed to support the use of social media as an evidence-based teaching strategy in undergraduate nursing education.