A systematic review of creative thinking/creativity in nursing education.

OBJECTIVE: This systematic review aimed to identify the types of nursing course structure that promotes students' creative thinking and creativity.

DESIGN: Systematic review.

DATA SOURCES: Five electronic databases: The British Nursing Index, CINAHL, PsycINFO, Scopus and Ovid Medline.

REVIEW METHODS: The databases were systematically searched to identify studies that discussed the concept of creative thinking in nursing education or reported a strategy that improved students' creative thinking. Qualitative studies or studies that included qualitative data were included. After reading the full content of the included studies, key themes and concepts were extracted and synthesized.

RESULTS: Eight studies were identified. Four main themes relating to the course structure in teaching creativity were developed: diversity learning, freedom to learn, learning with confidence and learning through group work.

CONCLUSIONS: To promote creative thinking in nursing students, educators themselves need to be creative in designing courses that allow students to learn actively and convert thoughts into actions. Educators should balance course freedom and guidance to allow students to develop constructive and useful ideas. Confidence and group work may play significant roles in helping students to express themselves and think creatively.