Age-Appropriate Health Promotion Education: Roots Firmly Established in Baccalaureate Nursing Pediatric Rotation

The Essentials of Baccalaureate Education for Professional Nursing Practice [American Association of Colleges of Nursing. (2008, October 8). Retrieved September 11, 2009, from http://www.aacn.nche.edu/Education/pdf/BaccEssentials08.pdf] addresses the importance of health promotion at the individual level across the lifespan to effect optimal population health. This qualitative study explores senior baccalaureate nursing students' perceptions (n = 85) of the teaching and learning experience related to health promotion during their pediatric clinical rotation. Four distinct learning factors of student, client, learning process, and subject matter emerged. Knowledge was enhanced, and students identified that the format of presentation influenced the quality of participant learning. Students' perception of the importance of patient and family teaching evolved over the course of the semester and highlights the importance of providing students with the tools necessary to be effective teachers and change agents to promote healthy behaviors across the lifespan. Fink's Taxonomy of Significant Learning can be applied to facilitate integrated course design for a pediatric baccalaureate nursing curriculum.