Blended learning in Aotearoa New Zealand and Australian programmes that lead to registration as a nurse : an integrative review

Blended learning is understood to be the combination of online and face-to-face learning experiences and has developed rapidly within nursing education globally. The purpose of this integrative review was to update what is currently known about blended learning within the Aotearoa New Zealand and Australian nursing education context and to generate new perspectives to inform the evidence-based use of blended learning. An integrative review approach was utilised. Systematic searches of the databases Scopus, Web of Science, CINAHL Complete, ERIC via Ovid, PsychInfo via Ovid, and Google Scholar were conducted. Articles were included for review if they were published between 2010 and 2020 and reported on research involving a combination of online and face-to-face teaching in undergraduate nursing programmes in Aotearoa New Zealand or Australia that led to a registered nurse qualification. All seven articles that met the inclusion criteria were from Australia and were published between 2016 and 2020. The findings were analysed and summarised into five main categories: definitions of blended learning; teacher qualities; benefits of blended learning; challenges of the blended learning approach; and future considerations. While this review found that teacher qualities influenced students’ perceptions and experiences of blended learning, further research is needed on how teachers perceived and experienced blended learning. While COVID-19 has accelerated the use of online and blended learning internationally; this review identified a lack of empirical knowledge on the efficacy and experience of blended learning across nursing education in Aotearoa New Zealand and Australia. A more nuanced definition of blended learning would assist researchers and educators to develop effective and adaptable blended learning teaching strategies in the Aotearoa New Zealand and Australian context. With increased directives for adaptable blended learning modalities within nursing education, this review of the current literature within Aotearoa New Zealand and Australia was timely and will provide important updates for nurse educators on how best to provide blended learning and provide a framework for future research