Students enter accelerated BSN (ABSN) programs as successful college graduates. These motivated, self-directed learners may have been confident in their former field, but they are transitioning to being beginners in nursing. The individual learning integration project offers students insight into how they can leverage their strengths in nursing and provides opportunities for deep learning through multiple ways of knowing. Each student develops a preapproved project that bridges their personal expertise, experience, or talent with nursing concepts. Students may select from a wide variety of target audiences including patients and families, nurses or other health care professionals, communities, legislators, and so forth. The detailed grading rubric is electronically posted and reviewed to clarify expectations. The final classroom session is devoted to sharing the projects. Students may hear the highlights of a research paper or grant proposal or an excerpt from an essay about living with a chronic illness; watch a 1-act play, dance or vocal performance, or video; and view health promotion campaign materials, a business plan, a simulated Web site, or a short illustrated children's book. They may play an educational game or engage in an exercise developed by an ABSN student. This strategy provides a pathway for students to use their past to support their future. High-quality projects have the potential for actual implementation for the intended audience.

Submitted by: Deborah A. DeMeester, PhD, RN, CNE, Science of Nursing Care Department, Indiana University School of Nursing, 600 Barnhill Dr, Indianapolis, IN 46202 (mailto:[email protected]).