Concept mapping, conventional teaching methods and knowledge of nurses

The demand for quality in care and improved health outcomes is on the rise due to increase in the complexity and diversity of health care needs. Nurses being in the frontline should be a critical thinkers in order to be a partner in clinical governance and decision making. The traditional teaching methods commonly practiced at colleges and universities provide students with theoretical knowledge and invariably fail to prepare them for keeping up with the clinical challenges in the health care. Various strategies are employed in nursing education to improve the critical thinking, knowledge and clinical practice. Concept mapping is an effective tool which enables them to understand the concept and think critically to handle the patient care issues. This article aims to provide a brief introduction of concept mapping and assesses the effect of concept mapping on knowledge of nurses and nursing students compared to conventional teaching methods. Pub Med-Medline database was used as search engine for literature review. Specific search strategy and key terms were used to search database. Six research studies, out of 20 reviews supported that concept mapping was better than conventional teaching methods. The review concludes that concept mapping is useful and more successful in stimulating critical thinking among nursing students. Concept mapping was found to be more effective than the conventional teaching method in increasing meaningful learning, encouraging them to connect current knowledge to their prior learning, and also provided an opportunity to gain further knowledge. It can be used as a clinical teaching-learning method to enhance critical thinking in nursing students.