A Critical Review of Qualitative Research Methods in Evaluating Nursing Curriculum Models: Implication for Nursing Education in the Arab World

Aim: The purpose of this critical literature review was to examine qualitative studies done on innovative nursing curriculums in order to determine which qualitative methods have been most effective in investigating the effectiveness of the curriculum and which would be most appropriate in an Arab Islamic country. Data Sources: At least 25 studies from major countries in the world were evaluated. To select the required studies, an exhaustive search was conducted in MEDLINE, CINAHL, Academic Search Premier, ERIC, ProQuest, Education Research Complete and Professional Development Collection. Review Methods: The articles were critically reviewed based on the research methodology selected, the theoretical frameworks that support the methodology and the data collection methods used to collect data. Discussions: Among the research methodologies examined, phenomenology in its descriptive form has been extensively used. The second most common design seen was grounded theory and this was appropriate as the phenomenon of innovative nursing curriculum in the Arab region being in its infancy, nurse researchers were interested in generating theory related to the phenomenon of interest. Of the research methodologies scrutinized, semi-structured interviews and focus group interviews, emerged as the most commonly used data collection tool. Conclusion: Qualitative research studies have contributed to a great extend to our understanding of innovative nursing curriculum designs. However there is an acute paucity of nursing education and nursing curriculum studies from the Arab world which need to be addressed soon.