Preliminary Effect of Challenge-Based Learning on Fostering Nursing Students’ Multidisciplinary Collaboration in Community Health Care Settings

Abstract

Background

Competence in multidisciplinary collaboration is an essential attribute of nurses working in community health settings. Nursing students should be equipped with this attribute during undergraduate training.

Aim

To examine the effect of Challenge-Based Learning (CBL) on multidisciplinary collaboration among nursing students.

Methods

A one-group pretest-posttest study. Nursing students worked in multidisciplinary groups to conduct community projects framed with CBL. The students designed, planned, and implemented health promotion activities for the selected health topics over a 14-week semester. Multidisciplinary collaboration was measured by Collaboration Scale at baseline and after the projects were completed. Wilcoxon signed-rank test was used to compare the total and subdomain collaboration scores within-group. p-value <0.05 was statistical significance.

Results

The total and subdomain collaboration scores were significantly greater than those of the pretest ones (p<0.001), with the effect sizes (r) ranging from 0.48 to 0.71.

Conclusions

The present findings shed light on the potential positive effect of CBL on strengthening nursing students’ competence in multidisciplinary collaboration. Future studies with a more rigorous approach are needed to verify the findings.