Cognitive integration in health professions education: Development and implementation of a collaborative learning workshop in an undergraduate nursing program

Cognitive integration is integral to health professions education as it facilitates the ability to synthesize various types of knowledge and apply them in a clinical context. Nursing education is one main field of study that is subsumed under the umbrella of health professions education. Future nurses require learning, not just of skills but also of the knowledge that underpins those skills. They need to be able to cognitively integrate various forms of content and skills so that they can translate them to actual patient management and care during clinical practice. Several educational strategies have been implemented and have been shown to be effective in promoting cognitive integration in health professions learners, both individually and as a group. One of these strategies is collaborative learning. This study describes how a developed collaborative learning workshop was implemented to aid cognitive integration in year 1 undergraduate nursing students prior to their clinical postings. It also looks into the perceptions of students through qualitative findings from focus group discussions. Generated themes include 'integrating and bridging knowledge for practice', 'having tutors with different and complementing expertise', 'preparing mindsets by clear objectives' and 'timing and case variability'.