Nurse Educator Tips for Teaching

The FNP program includes a series of clinical courses: Primary Care I, II, and III, with Primary Care III occurring the semester of graduation. Dr. Elizabeth Phenneger and other FNP faculty incorporated a self-evaluation for students taking Primary Care III at the end of the semester and identified gaps in students' competencies. Faculty created an improvement plan tailored to address these deficits that included : (1) a 7-hour in-person clinical skills intensive day incorporating multiple case-based learning activities, standardized patient case simulations, clinical skills practice on task trainers, and unfolding case studies, and (2) a series of physiology cascade assignments threaded throughout the course. Surveys and faculty assessment revealed significant improvement in students' competencies.

The End-of-Life Nursing Education Consortium (ELNEC) provides an online course to develop graduate-student competencies related to palliative care. In this podcast, four graduate-level nurse educators (Drs. Theresa Jizba, Elena Prendergast, Carrie Cormack, and Lindsay Iverson) describe how the ELNEC curriculum improved self-perceptions of confidence in essential communication and symptom management skills in practice. In the authors' article and this podcast, you will learn more about how you can implement the ELNEC course in nursing program curricula and help students develop competence and improve their self-confidence in palliative care.

The introduction of generative artificial intelligence (genAI) has had significant implications for nursing education. The role of AI extends beyond teaching strategies to preparing students to critically engage with these technologies in their practice. Dr. Emily Tomlinson discusses the need for clear guidelines on implementing genAI tools in nursing curricula and explains how the faculty in her School of Nursing embedded genAI-based learning activities across each year of the nursing program. These activities were designed to support students' development of AI literacy. Details about learning outcomes for students related to AI are provided in their article.

Simulation has grown exponentially in nursing to help students and nurses in practice engage in teamwork to think critically, problem-solve, and enhance clinical proficiency and patient care within a safe environment. Low-fidelity manikins have been integral to nursing education for many years. The emergence of high-fidelity manikins and complex technologies in the past 20 years has enabled educators to engage students in complex scenarios and prepare them for practice. Nurse Educator has published many articles on simulation that address diverse educational and clinical contexts. Today's podcast on virtual reality with Greta Mitzova-Vladinov, DNP, CRNA, CHSE, APRN, celebrates simulation as a high-impact teaching strategy and the educators who prepare the scenarios.

Expert modeling videos (EMVs) have shown promise in improving students' performance in simulation. Using a quasi-experimental design, students in a medical surgical nursing course (n = 160) viewed either an expert model demonstration video (experimental) or expert model discussion video (control). Students who viewed the demonstration video performed at a higher level of competency in 11 of the 18 behaviors on the Creighton Competency Evaluation Instrument. Dr. Tracy Dodson shares the results of this study and discusses implications for teaching in nursing.

Nursing programs strain to develop instructional tools that are efficient and effective, without undo time commitments by faculty. One way to enhance clinical reasoning skill development is to create case-based learning events that focus on developing and measuring clinical judgment skills. In this podcast and teaching tip, Dr. Bev Wilgenbusch presents a teaching tool that faculty can use to promote critical thinking, clinical reasoning, and clinical judgment in their students.

Varying the situational context in a patient case scenario allows nursing students to demonstrate critical thinking during a routine skills demonstration. In this podcast, you'll hear how a team of nurse educators (Drs. Amy Jauch, Sandy Mulholland, and Jennifer Nieves) used video recordings to capture observable evidence of undergraduate students' critical thinking processes. The instructors used the videos to provide students with opportunities to reflect on their performance of skills in different patient-care scenarios and articulate the reasoning behind their actions. Read the article describing how you can use a similar strategy to assess psychomotor skills and clinical judgment while guiding student reflection on their learning progress.

Technology is pivotal in nursing education, but persistent barriers hinder technology's full integration in nursing programs. Drs. Will Brewer and Ann-Marie Irons discuss barriers and facilitators to the use of technology in nursing education. They surveyed 1,761 nursing faculty members in prelicensure programs about their views on technology, barriers, training needs, and importance of technology in the classroom and simulation. Faculty highlighted financial support, commitment, and administrative support as critical for technology adoption. Additionally, time in the classroom was noted as a significant barrier. Overcoming financial constraints and enhancing faculty buy-in are essential for successful technology integration. Learn more about their survey and methodology in their article.

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.