Objective: To assess the learning styles and educational strategy preferences among critical care nurses, operating room nurses, and infection control practitioners.
Design: Descriptive multicenter survey using a self-report questionnaire.
Setting: 108 hospitals from nine geographic regions of the United States.
Participants: A random sample of 303 (93%) nurses in the three specialties responded to the survey questionnaires.
Results: The majority of participants (64%) had an abstract learning style and preferred the self-directed, discovery approach to learning.
Conclusions: Nurses may be more abstract in their learning styles than previously reported. Experiential learning theory is an effective means of identifying nurses' learning styles and teaching/learning preferences, which can then be used to plan basic and continuing educational programs.