The impact of integrating bioscience and nursing subjects in a first-year nursing curriculum: A retrospective study

Aim: The aim of this study is to explore the effects of integrating bioscience and nursing units on academic achievement and perception in the first-year nursing curriculum. Background: Nursing students have historically found biosciences difficult and struggle to relate it to nursing practice. In response, nursing and non-nursing academics have employed different teaching modes and integration strategies to enhance learning. Despite these efforts, substantial gaps still persist concerning the integration of biosciences within nursing curriculum and the effect of integration on student academic achievement and student perception. Design: Retrospective descriptive. The setting was a large University in Victoria Australia with two undergraduate nursing campuses (metropolitan and non-metropolitan). Method: Student academic records and online evaluation surveys that were completed from 2014 to 2019 were examined. Students self-reported their experiences of the unit using a five-point Likert scale and two open-ended questions. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyse the data. Content analysis was used to analyse the two open-response survey items. Results: First-year student records from 2014 to 2016 (pre-integration) and 2017–2019 (post-integration) were examined. Student mean age was 24.5 years (SD 7.2) and 20.9 years (SD 4.8) pre-integration and post-integration respectively. There was a statistically significant decrease in student attrition from pre-integration (n=536, 29.9%) to post-integration (n=358, 20.2%) (p <0.001), and a significant improvement in students’ mean academic scores post-integration in the first semester 61.9 (SD 15.9) and 67.0 (SD 14.9) respectively, confidence interval 3.9–6.2 (p <0.001). Student satisfaction with the units improved post-integration, from 77.8% to 85.8% (χ² = 10.1076) (p=0.001). However, there was no significant difference in students’ perception of feeling overwhelmed, and their self-reported ability to link theory to practice. Conclusion: Integrating bioscience and clinical nursing practice units in the first-year curriculum can help decrease student attrition rates, improve student academic results and increase student satisfaction which may lead to an overall improvement in student learning experiences.