Child health nurses' perceptions of enquiry-based learning

Since the publication of Fitness for Practice (UKCC, 1999), most preregistration nursing curriculae embrace the principles of enquiry-based learning (EBL) as a method of educating students. EBL uses genuine real-life client scenarios which provide the students with an opportunity to explore a range of issues directly pertaining to client care in a variety of contemporary nursing settings (Long et al, 1999). This evaluative study of one group (n=12) of child branch students conducted during the last EBL session of the course reflects the students' experiences of this method of teaching over a 3-year period. Nominal group technique (Delbecq and Van de Ven, 1971) was utilized to give a quantitative dimension to the reporting and recording of individual student reflections of EBL. The results demonstrate overall satisfaction with this method of student learning. A number of concerns raised by students reflect some of the pitfalls associated with EBL and these have important ramifications for nurse educators and clinical placement mentors. However, the small size limitations of this study do not allow for generalizability.