Nurses’ learning styles: promoting better integration of theory into practice

Frankel, A. (2009) Nurses’ learning styles: promoting better integration of theory into practice. Nursing Times; 105: 2, 24–27.

Background:

In a climate where nurses’ roles are expanding, underpinning knowledge is increasingly important.

Aim:

To explore staff preferences for learning and highlight the importance of recognising individual learning styles.

Method:

A questionnaire was carried out with 61 nurses in an independent health and social care provider, achieving a response rate of 100%.

Results:

Staff mainly prefer visual or kinaesthetic learning. This indicates the current training programme is not meeting their needs.

Discussion:

The learning environment is recognised as having an impact in either encouraging or impeding a positive learning experience. A range of learning theories, concepts and approaches can be used to build and manage effective learning environments.

Conclusion:

Staff often prefer a visual learning style. Increased emphasis should be given to work-based learning rather than classroom-based teaching methods.

This study explores whether recognising learning styles could help to integrate theory and practice