The work-life balance course is created with the objective of helping the new nurses get acquainted with the new work environment and the patients they will serve and equip them with the knowledge to have a satisfactory and enhanced lifestyle despite the stresses that might occur. The assumption behind the objective of the course is that all nurses require coaching or orientation on striking a work-life balance, which is critical to the retention of a healthy and well-balanced workforce (Matsuo et al., 2021). As such, they need to learn and acquire knowledge and skills in understanding their context of work and adopting suitable practices to prevent burnout and stress, which are major contributors to intentions to leave the work environment.
The objective informs the design of the outcomes of the delivery of the course. By the end of the course, the learner shall have:
The teaching strategies include the provision of traditional classroom lessons involving lectures and PowerPoint presentations and the use of flipped classrooms. The traditional classroom strategies are effective in conveying the theoretical information that the learners need to have in the process of building their knowledge and skills regarding work-life balance. They are based on the outcome-based education model in which the lesson and curricula are designed to emphasize the elements that learners should understand and adapt to their lives beyond the classroom environment (Tan et al., 2018). In this traditional method, the lectures and presentations are supplemented by student self-evaluation and educator evaluations to ensure that the learners are on course to achieve the expected outcomes. According to Tan et al. (2018), the evaluations should be based on theoretical and clinical knowledge.
The traditional methods are then supplemented with innovative teaching strategies such as the use of flipped classrooms. According to Pangadaman et al. (2019), flipped classrooms are used to provide learner-centered education and to promote the students’ engagement with an emphasis on self-learning. It can also incorporate team-based learning and the use of role-playing, but the evidence is not clear on the efficacy of mixing the team-based approaches with the learner-centered flipped classroom model in providing effective nursing education. However, according to Tan et al. (2018), nursing competency can further be built through learner-centered approaches that also incorporate role-playing and scenario simulation to get the learners accustomed to the real-life experiences that occur in the workplace environment. Moreover, Pangadman et al. (2019) proposed the incorporation of active learning into nursing education, a process that involves allowing the nurses to apply the knowledge acquired in the classroom directly in their practice settings. Thus, the traditional and innovative teaching strategies can be useful in educating new nurses on work-life balance but need to be tuned to specific learner needs to make them student-centered.
In a typical classroom setting of either traditional or non-traditional learners, there are various barriers that can hamper the students’ learning processes. According to Mavuso (2020), these barriers include language difficulties, reading and writing challenges, behavioral barriers, individual-specific barriers, and contextual barriers. The contextual barriers could include cultural influences, family backgrounds, and other family complexities, whereas individual-specific barriers include physical challenges, behavioral challenges such as absenteeism and attention-seeking, or motivational challenges that the individual learner might face (Mavuso, 2020). The educator needs to adopt strategies for managing these barriers to ensure the effectiveness of the education plan.
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