Identifying undergraduate nurses´ learning requirements and teaching strategies in dementia care education: A nominal...

Identify priorities and reach a consensus on student nurses´ learning requirements and the best-suited teaching strategies in dementia care.

Dementia has become a global health priority. Nurses are primary service providers for people with dementia, but they may fall short on professional training. Nursing curricula still lacks a clear educational framework for dementia, meaning that nurse educators must make decisions amidst uncertainty.

Nominal group technique based on the conceptual framework proposed by Van de Ven and Delbecq (1972).

A structured face-to-face meeting convened in November 2021 involved nine participants who were directly involved in dementia care. The steps in the technique were (a) idea generation, (b) round-robin recording, (c) discussion, (d) voting and ranking, (e) discussion on the vote and (f) re-ranking. Participants answered two nominal questions. Consent, anonymity, feedback and iteration were guaranteed throughout the process.

The nominal group prioritized theoretical understanding of dementia, communication, caregivers´ needs, comprehensive assessment and ethical practice as learning requirements for nursing students. The outstanding teaching strategy discussed included various approaches to experiential learning.

The nominal group technique process explored learning requirement priorities for student nurses within a specific context. Participants discussed experiential learning as the best-suited teaching strategy. Findings could support nurse educators to design and deliver better dementia education.