The Flipped Classroom in Nursing Education as Described by the Nurse Educators' Experience

Purpose: As nursing care becomes more multifaceted, laden with technology and critically ill patients, nurses need to be prepared to meet the demands required to care for sicker, more complex patients, and nurse educators are being called to transform the classroom with more active engaging methodologies. The flipped classroom has been identified as one of these methodologies. However, a gap in the scientific knowledge exists in nursing education explaining the experience of faculty using the flipped classroom model and the efficacy.

Methods: A qualitative study was conducted to answer, what is the experience of nurse faculty who have incorporated the flipped classroom into their courses? All member programs in the Consortium for Advancing Baccalaureate Nursing Education in Texas (CABNET) were invited to participate; focused interviews were conducted with ten nursing faculty from six programs. Using constant comparative method, data were analyzed, and coded.

Results: Analysis of the data as guided by the research questions, identified five generalized categories: defining the flipped classroom, tools used for the implementation, development of knowledge, barriers to implementation, and measurement of student success. In conjunction with the categories, several sub-categories were identified that offered further meaning to each category. Exploring the experience of the nurse faculty participants identified multiple definitions for the flipped classroom, minimal knowledge of theoretical framework with the flipped classroom, and lack of student preparation.

Conclusion: The study provided new insights on the experience of nurse faculty in an associate degree nursing program within the state of Texas. They included the need for consistency and ongoing support to successful implement the changes in curriculum supporting the flipped classroom methodology. Challenges experienced by the faculty were both positive and negative. The analysis of the data answered the questions appropriately, and identified the need for continued faculty development throughout the implementation to ensure the methodology is being delivered appropriately for student success.