Authors

  1. Hunt, Karen MSN, RN, RD, CNE
  2. Cornine, Amanda PhD, RN, CNE

Article Content

Use of anonymous frequency-based word clouds in nursing education literature is sparsely reported. To our knowledge, word clouds have not been reported as a tool to enhance nursing learners' feelings of inclusivity. This low- or no-cost strategy was implemented in both traditional and accelerated BSN classrooms for foundational courses, such as Pathophysiology/Pharmacology and Fundamentals. The goal was to promote learners' sense of belonging and persistence. Course faculty asked questions to which learners responded using an electronic quizzing platform (eg, Mentimeter or Kahoot!(TM)). With prompts, learners anonymously shared their feelings in that moment, identified concerns for the course, reported strategies they believed course faculty could use to facilitate their sense of belonging, and shared their reason for pursuing nursing school (ie, their "why"). Two word clouds were generated to display learner feelings and their "why," or motivation for becoming nurses. The feelings word cloud revealed many learners shared similar emotions of doubt or worry. After class, the "why" word cloud replaced the course's image banner in the learning management system to encourage learners to remember why they began. This visual reminder was meant to serve as inspiration to learners as the semester progressed to help them achieve their goals.