Challenging the status quo through nursing entrepreneurship education: A scoping review

Background: Entrepreneurship education is commonly incorporated into areas beyond nursing. However, advocating for curricular changes is necessary in a generation that seeks new learning styles and has different preferences and needs. Entrepreneurship has been identified as a valuable subject to be incorporated into nursing education, as it aligns with the foundational principles of Nursing as a science. Aim: To examine the state of knowledge regarding the entrepreneurship education of undergraduate nursing students. Design: A scoping review was conducted following JBI and reported according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses Extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR) guidelines. Methods: The searches were performed on July 19th, 2023, in MEDLINE via PubMed; ISI Web of Science; EBSCOhost CINAHL; Embase; Scopus; BVShost LILACS; and ProQuest. Grey literature was searched on Google Scholar. Records examining the entrepreneurship education of nursing students were included. Results: The searches resulted in 17 records, 15 of which were from databases and two of which were identified via other methods. Although entrepreneurship education has increased over the years, the incorporation of diverse teaching modalities as a transformative and innovative educational strategy is still not a reality for many undergraduate nursing students worldwide. The findings highlight that entrepreneurship education is incorporated theoretically into mandatory courses with curricular components related to administration and health services management. Conclusions: Entrepreneurship education can pivot nursing education and drive change in educational strategy while maintaining the fundamentals of nursing education. With entrepreneurship education, nursing students envision professional identity values, such as leadership, critical thinking, and political development. When understanding their political role, nursing students can exercise leadership to think critically outside the box and challenge the status quo.