Blocked- and integrated-content baccalaureate nursing programs: a comparative study.

This study evaluated the differences between blocked- and integrated-content baccalaureate nursing programs related to faculty satisfaction, senior students' critical thinking ability, and students' state board examination performance. Faculty satisfaction had 10 factor scores--7 directly teacher-related factors and 3 indirectly teacher-related factors. Analysis of 85 faculty members by a one-dimensional, nested multivariate analysis of variance design revealed that faculty satisfaction was not a function of the type of content program. Analysis of 104 senior students by a one-dimensional, nested univariate analysis of variance design revealed no significant difference in critical-thinking ability between the two types of content programs. When 230 students' SBE scores were subjected to a one-dimensional, nested multivariate analysis of variance, blocked-content program students scored significantly higher than integrated-content program students. Recommendations for further study are made.