By Fidelindo Lim, DNP, CCRN, FAAN
Clinical Associate Professor and Program Director, Nursing Education
Rory Meyers College of Nursing
Concerns about the decline in student reading habits, a topic often raised by educators, have persisted across all levels of education. This diminishing engagement with reading is widely recognized as detrimental to both education and society. Several factors may contribute to this trend, including grade inflation, the prevalence of digital distractions in everyday life, and the increasing accessibility of advanced large language models. After all, why would a perpetually distracted student spend time poring over lengthy texts when they can easily secure an “A” with the undetectable assistance of AI tools like Claude or BERT?
Like many faculty members, I often meet with nursing students who are struggling academically or have failed an exam. During these sessions, I aim to better understand their study habits. When I ask, “Do you read the assigned materials?” the typical answer is “no” or “never.” Recognizing that despair is neither productive nor a solution, I focus instead on guiding students toward practical strategies for improvement. To help them optimize their reading habits, I introduce a simple acronym: READ.
First, I encourage students to read with a Rationale. I advise students to approach reading with a clear purpose, such as actively seeking specific information within the material. For example, they might focus on understanding the rationale behind a particular medical intervention or pinpointing the exact mechanism of action for a medication. Purpose-driven reading is significantly more effective and engaging than passively working through a textbook chapter from start to finish without direction.
Reading in isolation is only part of the learning process. I encourage students to enhance their understanding by Explaining what they’ve read to a peer, particularly within a study group. Peer instruction fosters active engagement with the material, making it easier for students to retain information and develop a more profound understanding of key concepts. To reinforce this practice, I sometimes organize in-class “sprint readings,” where students quickly read a short passage and then explain the content to the person next to them. This method not only solidifies comprehension but also helps students pronounce unfamiliar terms and expand their vocabulary.
“A” stands for Apply what you’ve read. The nursing curriculum is intentionally structured to integrate hands-on, experiential learning with traditional classroom instruction. In the courses I teach, I often assign brief readings from relevant journals or newspapers covering specific clinical concepts, pairing the readings with practical tips on how to apply these concepts to real-life scenarios. Interestingly, I’ve observed that students are more inclined to engage with newspaper articles than dense textbook chapters. When coordinating larger clinical courses, I also share recommended active learning strategies with clinical instructors, providing them with tools to help students actively apply their reading to clinical practice. This approach bridges the gap between theory and practice, making the learning process more dynamic and meaningful.
Nursing students often have demanding schedules filled with activities beyond the classroom, such as hospital clinicals and simulation labs, leaving little room for unstructured study time. To stay on top of their workload, effective organization is crucial. I recommend that students set aside Dedicated reading periods, broken into manageable intervals—such as 50 minutes of focused reading followed by a 10-minute break. This method promotes better concentration and prevents burnout. Having a reading or accountability partner can make the process even more effective, as it fosters mutual support and motivation.
These days, nursing faculty have to teach both nursing and masterful reading of nursing texts. I do my best to encourage regular reading habits among students by telling them I am an avid reader myself. Offering shorter, more engaging readings as well as a mix of multimedia and texts with immediate real-world applications also seems to resonate more with today’s learners.
For more on this topic, read Professor Lim’s recent article in American Nurse, “Read alert: The decline of reading.”
Also check out last semester’s TeachTalk hosted by NYU Shanghai on Engaging Students with Reading in the Age of AI.