Engaging Nursing Students in Mental Health Concepts Through Multiple Teaching Modalities

Utilizing multiple active learning strategies may facilitate knowledge, critical thinking, communication, and attitude regarding mental health concepts in nursing students.

Faculty in an accelerated 12-month baccalaureate nursing program delivered mental health nursing concepts utilizing team-based learning (TBL), a video response assignment, faculty-led clinical in an inpatient psychiatric hospital, and a standardized patient simulation. Twenty-two nursing students (71%) voluntarily completed a faculty-derived instrument to evaluate the efficacy of each learning experience on knowledge, critical thinking, communication, and attitude.

Students favored in-person clinical (73%-91%) and TBL (68%-77%) in terms of the perceived effectiveness to improve knowledge, critical thinking, communication, and attitude toward the mentally ill. Standardized patient experiences (45%-64%) were not rated as favorably but did fare better than video-response assignments (32%-45%).

Research is needed to provide a formal evaluation of mental health teaching modalities. [.