A study of the teaching and learning of the biological sciences in nurse education

The study was designed to explore the teaching and learning of the biological sciences in nurse education in an attempt to identify why some students are failing to support their practice with theory. Questionnaires were sent to third-year nurse students (n = 140) and nurse teachers (n = 43) in three schools of nursing. Several findings emerged from the study: (a) the balance between the behavioural and biological sciences in nurse education was perceived by the students as being too much in favour of the behavioural sciences; (b) the level of knowledge from the biological science taught was perceived by the students as being inappropriate for RGN training; (c) teachers felt inadequately prepared to teach the biological sciences and, similarly, nurse students felt inadequately prepared in these sciences; and (d) self-directed methods of teaching and learning, although used most frequently, were perceived by the students as being the most ineffective.