Nurse Educator Tips for Teaching

Nurse practitioners (NPs) need to acquire prescribing competencies during their nursing program so they are prepared to provide safe care to patients. Many NP students have anxiety about prescribing, even after they have completed a course in advanced pharmacology. Drs. Phillips, George, and Munn describe the structure, topics, and outcomes of a prescribing workshop they offer for NP students.

Article: https://journals.lww.com/nurseeducatoronline/fulltext/2024/01000/effectiveness_of_interactive_group_activities_on.34.aspx 

Two leaders in nursing and healthcare education at Metropolia University of Applied Sciences in Helsinki, Finland, describe initiatives to develop solutions to complex healthcare problems in their local community. Metropolia combines expertise from business, culture, technology, healthcare, and social services to build sustainable innovations through their Innovation Hubs. Solutions are created through bold thinking about wellbeing, environmental responsibility, person-centered social and healthcare services, and corporate training needs. Anita Ahlstrand and Nea Lehtimäki share how development and collaboration in real-world healthcare settings facilitate student development of essential competencies for the workforce. Read more their work at Metropolia: https://www.metropolia.fi/en/rdi/innovation-hubs

Laurie Robinson, MSN, developed case studies that integrated the Clinical Judgment Measurement Model. She describes the cases, which were used by beginning nursing students prior to their initial clinical practice, and the outcomes of her study. 

Shannon Vandenberg, RN, PhD(c), a nursing instructor at the University of Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada, is an expert in planetary health and nursing. She discusses why planetary health is important for the nursing profession and how educators can incorporate planetary health into the curriculum. 

Nursing students are diverse in culture, abilities, and challenges. Universal Design for Learning is a logical and social model to support diverse learning methods. Accessibility tools help measure the efficacy of faculty efforts to make nursing courses accessible to all. This podcast with experts from the University of Nebraska, Dr. Suhasini Kotcherlakota, Patrick Rejda, Dr. Kevin Kupzyk, and Dr. Lynnette Stamler, presents the development of an accessibility tool for a Learning Management System in nursing education. Be sure to read the article, which is open access. 

Nurse educators play a significant role in setting an example for students early in their careers. Educators can make mistakes, and it is critical to role model moral courage by acknowledging these mistakes. Rachael Salguero and Karen Hunt, who teach at MGH Institute of Health Professions, developed this innovative teaching strategy to foster students' development of moral courage by openly encouraging students to “call in” the educator if they identify an error or have a concern based on words or behavior. 

Dr. Joanne Noone and Dr. Teri Murray describe the current state of academic review of faculty activities related to diversity, equity, and inclusivity (DEI) and explain how faculty can describe their DEI contributions in their annual review, promotion, and tenure documents. They make recommendations to schools of nursing to introduce and gradually expand recognition of DEI contributions and support faculty as they expand their efforts to integrate DEI into their daily teaching, research, service, and practice.

Dr. Karen Schwab, Director of Pediatric Services at Wellness 360 Pediatrics and Associate Clinical Professor at University of Texas (UT) Health, San Antonio, describes an innovative model for a faculty-practice pediatric clinic and how nursing students learn through service in the clinic’s telehealth and mobile units. Students participate in the care of vulnerable patient populations, manage the day-to-day function of the clinics, acquire work experience, and fulfill clinical and immersion hours. Learn more about this faculty practice and its significant impact on students, faculty, and patients at https://wellness360.uthealthsa.org/

Psychological Capital (PsyCap) consists of a set of internal resources an individual can access to navigate challenges and enhance job performance, satisfaction, and overall success. External factors within the academic environment may influence PsyCap. This podcast with Dr. Ashley Singh presents how PsyCap can be used in nursing academia to promote relationship-building, hope, resiliency, efficacy, and self-reflection in the faculty role.

Join this podcast with Dr. Rhonda Lanning to learn how she incorporated artificial intelligence (AI) into a course assignment that assesses therapeutic communication. Students used Yoodli, a free AI speech coach to create an audio recording of an interview, provide transcripts, and share time-stamped feedback about communication including use of filler words and inclusive language, rephrasing suggestions, and pacing.