Staff development story: Concept mapping: a staff development strategy for enhancing oncology critical thinking

Lymphoma Therapy and Adverse Events: Nursing Strategies for Thinking Critically and Acting Decisively

BACKGROUND

Multiple treatment options, combined with disease heterogeneity, have created nursing challenges in the management of adverse events (AEs) during antilymphoma therapy. Testing has revealed that less than half of participating nurses correctly graded peripheral neuropathy and neutropenia related to antilymphoma regimens.

OBJECTIVES

This article identifies nursing challenges in the management of AEs associated with therapy for lymphomas and describes how strategies in critical thinking can help meet those challenges.

METHODS

A comprehensive literature search in oncology nursing, nursing education, and critical thinking was conducted; participant responses to pre- and post-tests at nursing education programs were evaluated; and a roundtable meeting of authors was convened.

FINDINGS

Oncology nurses can cultivate critical thinking skills, practice thinking critically in relation to team members and patients, leverage information from the Patient-Reported Outcomes Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events, and manage workflow to allow more opportunity for critical thinking.

Mapping as a learning strategy in health professions education: a critical analysis

CONTEXT

Mapping is a means of representing knowledge in a visual network and is becoming more commonly used as a learning strategy in medical education. The assumption driving the development and use of concept mapping is that it supports and furthers meaningful learning.

OBJECTIVES

The goal of this paper was to examine the effectiveness of concept mapping as a learning strategy in health professions education.

METHODS

The authors conducted a critical analysis of recent literature on the use of concept mapping as a learning strategy in the area of health professions education.

RESULTS

Among the 65 studies identified, 63% were classified as empirical work, the majority (76%) of which used pre-experimental designs. Only 24% of empirical studies assessed the impact of mapping on meaningful learning. Results of the analysis do not support the hypothesis that mapping per se furthers and supports meaningful learning, memorisation or factual recall. When documented improvements in learning were found, they often occurred when mapping was used in concert with other strategies, such as collaborative learning or instructor modelling, scaffolding and feedback.

CONCLUSIONS

Current empirical research on mapping as a learning strategy presents methodological shortcomings that limit its internal and external validity. The results of our analysis indicate that mapping strategies that make use of feedback and scaffolding have beneficial effects on learning. Accordingly, we see a need to expand the process of reflection on the characteristics of representational guidance as it is provided by mapping techniques and tools based on field of knowledge, instructional objectives, and the characteristics of learners in health professions education.