Teaching the Millennial Nursing Student: Using a "Flipping the Classroom" Model

Working on the front lines of patient care, nurses play a vital role in helping our nation meet the objectives of the Future of Nursing IOM report and the Affordable Care Act. Nursing schools have a new challenge to prepare students to function in vital roles as leading change agents in this different environment. Simultaneously, millennials, a new generation of learners with unique learning needs have inundated our nursing classrooms. How best to effectively teach millennial students is a pressing issue. Millennials think and learn differently than previous generations and nurse educators are being asked to change their teaching styles to meet their needs. The purpose of this article is to introduce the nuts and bolts of "Flipping the Classroom" as a new approach to teaching millennial students. This model offers a revolutionary way to teach millennial nursing students. Designed especially for the millennial-aged student, "flipping the classroom" can result in superior learning outcomes, higher knowledge retention, enhanced critical thinking skills and improved clinical judgment. "Flipping" in nursing requires educators to move away from lecturing as the primary way to deliver information and instead to use various engaging tools and activities to help students make sense of theory and to connect key concepts with realistic experiences. It asks learners to use online resources innovatively and to explore the material prior to class. "Flipping" sets the platform for knowledge application in the classroom. Teachers and students use class time to problem solve, create, critique, and synthesize in a dynamic and engaging environment. Ultimately, both nurse educators and students can be transformed with this unique "flipped" model.