Dr. Mary Ann Dugan and Ms. Chelsea Lebo describe an  innovative teaching strategy they developed for nurse practitioner (NP) students. Each student manages care of a patient for 3 consecutive episodic visits in a telehealth simulation using Zoom and standardized patients. Each visit is 20 minutes in length. After students complete a visit, they write a subjective, objective, assessment, and plan (SOAP) note and make a call to a pharmacist for a prescription (audio submission). They describe the strategy in their article.

DNP-prepared faculty entering an academic role are expected to maintain a clinical practice, teach/advise students, and fulfill service obligations, often leaving minimal time to build a program of scholarship. Dr. Jayne Dunlap, Dr. Tracy Brewer, and Dean Rosalie Mainous describe a new model they developed to provide external mentorship for DNP-prepared faculty to facilitate their scholarship. This model builds on the archetype of external mentors for PhD researchers.

Read their article in Nurse Educator: it is Open Access.

In this podcast Dr. Beth Phillips, Nikita Khalid, and Nicole Zapparrata describe ATI's Engage Fundamentals. This is an online interactive educational program that can be used in place of textbooks for nursing students. Be sure to also read their article in Nirse Educator: "Benefits of an online interactive educational program over traditional textbooks." The article is open access so you can read it for free.

Effective communication is essential to foster relationship-centered nursing care. Students should learn to adapt communication techniques within context and address sensitive topics. This includes competency with therapeutic communication techniques such as empathy, paraphrasing, and asking clarifying questions. This podcast with Dr. Seibert, Ms. Davis, and Dr. Carter presents a teaching strategy that actively engages students in a role-play scenario to promote effective communication in a foundation nursing course.

Free riding, characterized by a lack of equal contributions to a group assignment, poses a significant challenge to the equitable distribution of credit and recognition in assigning a grade for a group project.  Such behavior may generate frustration and resentment among diligent students. This podcast with Dr. Margaret Jeanne Calcote and Dr. Candon Garbo presents 3 teaching tips to prevent free-riding when students are engaging in group work.

The “Wellness Wheel” recognizes the multifaceted approach that is an effective way to work toward mental well-being. It is a visual tool that helps understand the factors (emotional, intellectual, physical, social, environmental, financial, and spiritual) that affect mental health. The Wellness Wheel prompts introspection, self-reflection, and should lead to goal setting. This podcast with Dr. Catherine Stubin discusses how the “Wellness Wheel” strategy helps prepare students for nursing practice

Over the last 5 years, evidence about the common practice of assigning learners to the observer role in simulation has proliferated. The majority of evidence supports that there is no significant difference in cognitive knowledge outcomes between participant and observer roles in simulation when observers have direction and clear objectives. This podcast with Dr. Brandon Kyle Johnson and Dr. Mary Fey presents a strategy in which observers take active and engaging roles in simulation. The podcast focuses on a “Fiction Contract” to prepare students for a real-life simulation scenario. Learn more by reading their article.

The American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) released a faculty practice tool kit drawing on recommendations from the National Academy of Medicine's The Future of Nursing 2020-2030 report, new AACN Essentials, and AACN Advancing Healthcare Transformation report, reaffirming their support that nurse educators engage in all forms of practice. This podcast with Dr. Kelly Gonzales presents the results of a study about the need to incorporate faculty practice experiences within an academic setting for nursing practitioner faculty. Concepts from the results of the study can be applied to other nursing faculty.

Dr. Colleen Moss created a simulation to prepare neonatal nurse practitioner students to care for infants with fragile skin. The simulation is low tech and can be adapted for other skills. Learn more about this creative simulation.

If you want to know more about ChatGPT and artificial intelligence, don't miss this podcast with Candise Branum (Foley Library) and Martin Schiavenato (School of Nursing), Gonzaga University. They used ChatGPT to answer a PICO question, and they share their results. They also discuss students' use of AI to generate essays, issues related to AI use in nursing education, and some solutions.