Developing and Evaluating the Integration of Life and Social Sciences Teaching to First-Year Nursing Students

Title: Evaluating the integrating of life and social sciences teaching to first-year nursing students. Objectives: To evaluate an integrated teaching and learning approach to first-year nursing students, combining the life, social sciences and public health with a more integrated and clinical focused approach to teaching delivery Background: Historically within the School of Nursing and Midwifery the life sciences and social sciences had been taught as separate modules with separate teaching teams. This had reflected in a somewhat dis-integrated approach to student learning and understanding without clear clinical focus on application. With focus upon student learning the teaching teams engaged with a stepped, incremental and progressive movement towards developing and delivering a more integrated structure of learning, combining the life sciences, social sciences and public health teaching and learning within the one extended first-year module. The focus was particularly on integrated understanding and clinical relevance. This paper discusses both the approach to developing the integrated model of teaching and the evaluation of that teaching. Results: The module combining life, social science and Public health teaching was positively evaluated by the students. Evaluations are compared and contrasted from 2 nursing student groups of admissions. • integrated learning • clinical relevance • combining life and social science teaching Introduction and Background Before commencement of the academic year 2012/2013 the social sciences, public health and the biomedical sciences were taught and assessed as separate modules in the first year. This tended to reinforce the idea off separate disciplines and in the minds off certainly some of the younger students a failure to appreciate the interconnectedness (whole person) perspective on health; with separate modules taught and assessed in separate silos(a teacher centred, subject specific and specialized discipline). This became evident from earlier evaluations of the modules and impact of teaching and learning with some evidence of disproportionality in terms of delivery and impact on student nurse education. Porter and Ryan in 1996 [1] discuss the need to `break the boundaries’ between nursing and sociology. Benbasset et al. in 2003 [2] in addressing some of the barriers to the teaching and learning of the behavioural and social sciences to medical students, suggest the importance of integrated courses and ideally begun early in the curriculum. Satterfield et al. in 2004 [3] also suggest the value of an early integration of the social and behavioural sciences within the medical curriculum to help address a more holistic approach to care and treatment. BorrellCarrio et al. in 2004 [4] discuss the value of Engels earlier concept a bio psychosocial model in promoting health and managing patients care. Cohen in 2015 [5] argues for the importance of holistic nursing and to better achieve this students’ need to be educated holistically; significantly to reduce or eliminate disciplinary division and fragmentation in health education. Young and Paterson in 2007 [6] and Bruce in 2007 [7] suggest that historically there was perhaps a tendency towards an over structured curriculum and categorisation; the current focus would not necessarily negate `fixed information’ but with more of an emphasis on integration better reflecting the need to prepare students for social political and clinical situations that are complex moralistic and unpredictable’ (p.423). In a significant and landmark work in nurse education, Wynne et al. in 1997 [8] discussed the position of the biological sciences within pre-registration nurse education as an `incomplete holism’ and the need for teachers to `impart biological knowledge in a manner that can be readily applied by students to inform their clinical practice’ (p.470). Connie and Rowles in 2012 [9] discuss the effective use of the student centred innovation and a more collective/integrated approach to the teaching of the sciences. Jillings in 2007 [10] and Billings and Halstead in 2012 [11] discuss some of the barriers to student centred learning which include addressing traditional silos of knowledge and expertise in a teacher led approach, rather than focusing on the impact of student learning. The Nursing and Midwifery Council in 2010 [12] Standards for Preregistration Nursing and Midwifery Education focus the need for an integrated model of learning reflective of both the physical but also the psychosocial reality and living environment of patients and clients. Nursing and Care Power et al., J Nurs Care 2015, 4:5 http://dx.doi.org/10.4172/2167-1168.1000293 Research Article Open Access J Nurs Care ISSN:2167-1168 JNC, an open access journal Volume 4 • Issue 5 • 1000293 Developing Health and Wellbeing As a result of significant discussion and interdisciplinary negotiation, the life, social sciences public health/ health education were drawn together in the one module for the academic year 2012/13. The module seeks to provide the undergraduate students with an introduction in understanding of Life Sciences, psychology, sociology and public health and their contribution within the context of adult nursing, mental health, learning disability children’s nursing and midwifery. The intention is to provide the student with a more integrated understanding and teaching to both building and sustaining health individually and to the health of the community within a social context. The module runs in three phases across the student’s first-year and teachers to nursing and midwifery students. They represent the fields of adult nursing, mental health nursing, learning disability, children’s nursing and the midwifery students on the three year degree programme. Key weekly lectures are delivered in the social sciences and the Life Sciences (Hub) and developed within the structure of the tutorials and seminars (Spokes) [13,14] which is substantially matched against the topic areas delivered within the Nursing Values module for that particular phase and week. The Nursing Values module runs parallel to this module during the first year and addresses practical clinical application and nursing skills. It is then hoped that the student will not only achieve a more integrated perception of the physical and psychosocial needs of individuals and society but can more directly translate this to nursing care. The significant and predominant emphasis of the module in on health and health promotion (practical holism and the building and sustaining of homoeostasis) rather than the management of disease and disability. The tutorial or seminar topic is addressed in the week following the lecture in order that the student can better collect material and research the topic areas. Teaching is delivered by face to face lectures and by online e-learning resources including an e-virtual community reflecting aspects of social life within N. Ireland. Whilst subject specialists deliver the lectures, the tutorials and seminars are delivered by all lecturers, with the need at least initially to prepare themselves within their non-specialist areas and revise life sciences, social sciences or public health theory as appropriate-in order to ensure appropriate depth of knowledge and understanding reflected in teaching delivery. The development of both a more integrated model of teaching and learning, but also one with a more developed (and on-going development) focus on clinical work, was significantly helped by having colleagues who were also still engaged in practice (joint lecturing and clinical appointments)involved in the development planning and delivery of teaching to the integrated module.