Unveiling CPR training challenges in nursing education: Pedagogical strategies for success

Aim: This study explored the challenges nursing students face while learning CPR and identified experiential learning strategies to address these challenges. Background: Nursing students often experience challenges and anxiety during clinical learning, including CPR training. Given the experimental nature of CPR training, experiential learning models like mARC can significantly enhance the learning experience by addressing these prevalent challenges. Design: This study adopts an interpretivist approach within a qualitative methodology and uses a phenomenological design. Method: Semi-structured interviews and the Delphi method were used to gather firsthand experiences from 37 educational supervisors, nursing professors and nursing students undergoing CPR clinical training at five public medical universities. Results: Four main challenges and eighteen sub-challenges of CPR training were identified, elaborated and modeled. Additionally, thirteen experiential learning strategies, based on the mARC experiential learning model (more Authentic, Reflective, Collaborative), were mapped to address these challenges. Conclusions: Among the four main challenges of CPR training identified by this study, the lack of pedagogy appears to be the underlying cause of the other three. This underscores the significance of integrating effective pedagogical approaches into nurse education strategies and initiatives.