Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Challenges And Benefits Of Using A Virtual Community To Explore Nursing Concepts Among Baccalaureate Nursing Students, Linnea L. Carlson-Sabelli, Jean F. Giddens, Louis Fogg, Ruth A. Fiedler

School of Nursing Publications

This research study examines learner perceptions of benefits and challenges associated with the Neighborhood (NBH), an innovative pedagogy that fosters learner engagement and integration of nursing concepts using a “virtual community” as an alternative to lecture. First-semester students from five baccalaureate nursing programs that used the NBH intervention were divided into high (N = 78) and low faculty use (N = 203) groups. Qualitative analysis revealed that the NBH intervention promoted application of concepts to real life situation was engaging and “eye-opening,” allowing students to understand health care issues from a variety of perspectives. A major challenge was busy work …