Nursing students' perception of class immersion facilitators in psychiatric nursing: Team-based learning combined with flipped learning

Abstract

Background: Psychiatric nursing is a complex subject for nursing students due to abstract concepts and required pre-licensure competencies including collaboration and communication. A student-centred educational approach is needed to encourage engagement and immersion in class.

Objectives: This study aimed to use students' perspectives to explore factors facilitating class immersion in a psychiatric nursing subject using team-based learning combined with flipped learning.

Design: This study used a qualitative approach.

Settings: Team-based learning combined with flipped learning was applied in a 3-credit psychiatric nursing subject over a 15-week semester at a university in Daejeon, South Korea.

Participants: Participants included 12 senior nursing students who had completed a psychiatric nursing subject.

Methods: Data were collected using individual interviews, and analysed by reflexive thematic analysis. Data analysis was based on constructivist learning theory.

Results: The following four main themes emerged, teacher as a facilitator, inquiry-based learning, collaboration, and reflection. The teacher's role as a facilitator was to guide student's self-directed learning and immersion in enjoyable classes with a non-hierarchical environment. Realistic complex problems allowed students to prepare for future clinical practice and helped students with immersion. Students actively integrated different opinions through collaboration with team members and became immersed in class. Students were able to immerse more in class through critical thinking process and immediate feedback.

Conclusions: The findings suggest that team-based learning combined with flipped learning based on constructivist learning theory may be an effective instructional approach for increasing class immersion in a psychiatric nursing subject, thereby improving instructor's design for the subject.

Keywords: Immersion; Nursing students; Qualitative research; Team-based learning.