Chemistry for student nurses: applications-based learning

Abstract

New chemistry materials were devised for pre university National Certificate (NC) nursing students studying chemistry at a further education college. Previously, preliminary work showed that students felt that the chemistry taught to them was irrelevant, boring and difficult. It was hoped that through an applications-led style curriculum intervention, the chemistry taught would appear to be more accessible and meaningful to student nurses in the context of their lives and careers. This was done by relating the new material, wherever possible, to prior knowledge held by the students from their school experiences, real life working practices, or from their life experiences in general. The order, presentation and sequencing of materials were changed in order to reduce the perceived load on the working memory. In this manner, the learner can focus on important essential material without having to absorb irrelevant detail. It was found that the lecturer and the participating students gave universal support to the new chemistry materials.