A Clinical Assistant Program at West Virginia University School of Nursing helps prepare senior-level BSN students for leadership in nursing and increases nursing students' awareness of the rewards inherent in the nurse-educator role. In this podcast, four faculty members (Dr. Stacy Huber, Amanda Kitzmiller, Tonya Thompson, and Amber Ziese) describe the design and implementation of their Clinical Assistant Program in which senior nursing students work side-by-side with a clinical nurse educators who are instructing sophomore-level students. The authors explain how the program was developed and share the feedback they received from the clinical educators and students. Find resources to support sound design of a Clinical Assistant Program in their article.

Dr. Heather Hawk and Michael Coriasco describe an innovative guided learning activity they developed in which students used a chatbot to answer a clinical question. An analysis of student reflections demonstrated 4 themes: surprisingly familiar, the importance of critical thinking and external validation, a good summary but lacking depth and nuance, and cautious optimism. Two subthemes were also identified: validation is time-consuming and a new perspective. Learning activities using AI influence students' knowledge and attitudes and instill critical awareness of the advantages and limitations of this technology. Learn more about this learning activity and study findings in their article.

A nurse educator (Miriam Abbott) and a Psychology major at Kansas State University (Wyatt Abbott) explain what prompted them to study word patterns in AI-generated text to find out whether they could recognize similar patterns in writing submissions by nursing students. Their findings suggest that the presence or absence of specific words may provide clues to whether a student writing submission was generated by AI. Listen to the presenters as they discuss concerns many nurse educators share about the evolving AI landscape, and learn more about their perspectives on issues related to academic integrity in this podcast and their article.

Artificial intelligence (AI) pedagogies are increasingly common in health care education, but limited information guides their application in didactic nursing environments. Drs. Michele Gerdes, Andrew Bayne, Jennifer Wessol, Ellen Stephenson King, Kristina Henry, and Professor Allison Vance describe the current state of AI–based pedagogies used in didactic nursing education. Based on their scoping review, most articles addressed use of generative AI and pairing AI with other pedagogical strategies. You can learn more about this review in their article.

Drs. Tomeka Dowling and Crystal Toll discuss the need to integrate concepts of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) and social determinants of health (SDOH) into nursing curricula. RN to BSN students were surveyed to assess their perceptions of DEI-SDOH curricular threads and impact on nursing practice. Students indicated that DEI-SDOH curricula promoted self-examination, critical analysis of health care systems, and development of DEI-SDOH competence. You can learn more about their curriculum development process and assessment in their article.

Nursing students experience significantly more stress compared to non-nursing peers, which increases their risk for poor mental health and academic outcomes. MINDSTRONG, an evidence-based cognitive behavioral program focused on resiliency, prepares students to cope with stressors and adopt healthy lifestyles. Dr. Jacqueline Hoying describes the MINDSTRONG program and findings from her study on outcomes in undergraduate nursing students who completed the program (learn more in her article). She shares information with listeners about how to access program resources for implementation in this podcast.

Faculty should provide guidance to help new students embrace challenges and adapt to the rigor of the nursing curriculum. Mindset training may be a key to increase academic success. Dr. Ashley Carter developed a series of 10 lessons as 5-minute pearls throughout a semester-long introductory nursing course using short video clips. These lessons introduce the concepts of fixed versus growth mindset, neuroplasticity, and self-efficacy and include evidence-based strategies to support students' success and role development. You will enjoy this podcast and learn more in her teaching tips article.

Dr. Cathleen Evans created 3 tabletop board games as formative assessments for prelicensure students to develop their situational decision-making skillls: Ready Responder, Clinical Case Competency, and Decisions at the Point of Care. The games, adaptable to specific client types, care environments, and contexts, have vetted multiple-choice and client case answer keys. In this podcast and article, you will learn how she developed and uses these games for formative assessments.

Durable learning reflects the teaching/learning methods that result in retained knowledge that can be transferred to practice. There is limited research on durable learning in nursing education. Dr. Crista Reaves explored how nursing students acquired and retained knowledge. Thematic analysis revealed (1) learner- and instructor-initiated techniques that promoted durable learning and (2) techniques that were not effective in the classroom, clinical practice, and simulation. Learn about the research in their article.

Self-reflection is a key component of simulation debriefing that helps students describe their development of clinical judgment skills. Drs. Michelle Bussard and Lisa Jacobs asked students what they learned about themselves and what changes they plan to make to their nursing practice based on observation of their own performance during simulation in a video recording. Their qualitative study revealed findings about communication, body language, safety, and other AACN essential competencies that might have been overlooked in traditional methods of assessment in simulation. Learn more about how video-recorded simulations help students get the most out of debriefing after simulation in their article.