Students and senior citizens learning from each other.

A service learning experience in a senior citizen center was planned for first-quarter associate-degree nursing students at a university. Activities were planned that would benefit both student learning and senior citizen health and well-being. Students had the opportunity to interact with well elderly adults before dealing with ill or frail elderly adults, thus preventing the formation of some negative attitudes about elderly individuals.

Teaching and measuring critical thinking.

Nurse educators are under pressure to show critical thinking as a program outcome. Many different strategies have been suggested for developing critical thinking among nursing students. It is easy to believe these strategies increase critical thinking, but not all have actually been measured for reliability or validity.