Engaging nursing students with small group learning in midwifery education

Teaching has become very much learner oriented in the past few decades, and educators use a number of teaching learning strategies to engage and motivate the learner. The study aimed to assess the feasibility and experience of SGL in undergraduate nursing students. SGL was implemented for final year undergraduate nursing students (n=92) to teach obstetric skills and immediate management of sick newborn using standard treatment protocols (STPs) in a nursing institution with total students’ strength of 450, attached to a 3000 bedded tertiary level teaching hospital in India. Students were assessed using objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) after the teaching. A self developed structured feedback on their experience of SGL was taken from the students, along with open ended questions for additional comments if any. Majority of the students scored above 75% in the OSCE stations. Students also gave positive feedback about the teaching-learning experience. This study suggests that SGL is a highly acceptable method of teaching among nursing students. Educators need to use methods of teaching like SGL that will result in meaningful learning.