[Learning plans: experience with an innovative approach to nursing education]

According to the literature, self-learning plans represent an helpful and very flexible method in order to individualize the nursing students' learning activities, to develop the students' autonomy and responsibility together with the skills required for continuing nursing education. The educational experience of the implementation of the self learning plans in the practical training of the nursing students of the Pediatric Nursing School of Trieste, during 1996-97, is described. The 9 third year students produced 27 learning plans. According to the mentors and the students, the overall experience had a positive impact. The presentation and evaluation of the learning plans spurred the students' initiative, the adoption of innovative learning and research strategies and allowed to replace the traditional classroom teaching lectures. The main problems related to the implementation of this method lay in the increase of mentors' workload and in the difficulties in matching the high flexibility of the method with the inflexibility and constraints of both the organization and teaching programs and paces.