Nurse Educator Tips for Teaching

Workplace violence is an ever-present problem in the clinical setting. This podcast presents a simulation experience that enables students to assess patient-centered scenarios involving patient verbal incivility. Students learn to assess and respond appropriately to de-escalate a scenario within an effective communication framework. The simulation further enables students to make decisions at pivotal points during the simulation within a safe environment to manage the situation.

Clinical judgment is a cornerstone of safe, effective nursing practice and a critical competency for prelicensure nursing students. Despite its importance, there remains a significant gap in how clinical judgment is assessed in real-world clinical settings. In this podcast, the authors (Drs. Lisa Jacobs, Michelle Bussard, Emily Niedzwiecki, and Kathie Lasater) discuss their research involving the use of the Lasater Clinical Judgment Rubric to assess clinical judgment development in a prelicensure nursing program.

Their article is OPEN ACCESS: read and share widely.

Nurses consistently encounter uncertainty in clinical practice, which impacts decision-making. Uncertainty can lead to self-doubt and inaction, particularly in students and novice nurses. In this podcast, Drs. Wendy Greenwood, Alison Pittman, Chelsey Rosen, and Susan McKee present teaching strategies to improve students' tolerance for uncertainty and their decision-making confidence. These strategies incorporate interactive, color-coded clinical scenarios for students to demonstrate clinical reasoning in the face of uncertainty. Learn more about these innovations for your teaching in their article.

When talking to students and faculty as part of a new student success initiative, self-care and time management were identified as 2 pressing concerns. Dr. Brittany Nettles shares a strategy she developed for students to create a personalized time management system that allows time for their self-care.

Effective artificial intelligence (AI) prompting is essential for students to use AI to enhance critical thinking and clinical decision-making skills. Dr. Zeigler shares a framework she and a colleague developed for effective prompting: the CARE (Context, Action, Role, Expectation) Prompt Engineering Framework. The CARE framework provides a systematic outline for nurse educators to use in teaching students clinical decision-making skills and to ensure that effective AI prompts are used.

Dr. Nadine Wodwaski discusses how she scaffolded emotional intelligence throughout the curriculum in a traditional undergraduate program. This strategy prepares students to navigate difficult conversations throughout their professional careers. Learn more in her article.

Dr. Abby Gramlick-Mueller and Mrs. Casey Olson describe the Academy of Clinical Essentials (ACE) model, an innovative academic-practice partnership. The ACE model includes structured immersion and pairing student cohorts with RN clinical instructors to provide direct patient care. ACE students report higher satisfaction and perceived support than traditional students. The model and its outcomes are described in their article.

Virtual simulation enables NP students to use critical thinking, clinical reasoning, and problem-solving to manage complex problems in diverse populations. This podcast with Drs. Camp and Knight and article describe use of an unfolding case study in which learners make decisions about care based on evolving data. Learners develop competencies by making the best or correct decisions at strategic points, as well as by making incorrect ones.

Artificial intelligence (AI) can act as a virtual nursing preceptor, providing students with a safe place to practice thinking like a nurse practitioner (NP) before working with real patients. It can present realistic patient scenarios and ask guiding questions, such as which information is most important, which possible diagnoses are most likely, and what is the best plan of care. As students make decisions, the AI can give immediate feedback—pointing out strengths, gaps, and more evidence-based options. This podcast and article discuss how AI is used as a tool to complement actual human interaction to prepare NP students for practice.

High attrition rates in Health and Illness and Pharmacology courses led the authors to develop a mid-curricular summer bridge program for students to develop their self-regulated learning (SRL) and to reduce attrition in these courses. Dr. Avallone and Samantha Tucker in this podcast and article describe their Bridge Program and its effectiveness: students developed their SRL skills, and the Bridge Program significantly reduced attrition rates.