Nurse Educator Tips for Teaching

Nursing education programs across the US continue to face ongoing shortages of nursing faculty. This study examined salary differences between nursing faculty and other nurses using 2022 National Sample Survey of Registered Nurses data and identified specific factors contributing to these disparities. The adjusted annual salary of nursing faculty was $18,346 less than staff nurses, $19,863 less than charge nurses, and $27,526 less than front-line managers. Persistent salary disparities between nursing faculty and other nursing roles discourage nurses from pursuing academic careers. This article is OPEN Access: download the article and share widely.

Research indicates that compassionate teaching (CT) positively correlates with professional quality of life among RN to BSN students and can enhance student resilience and well-being. Faculty who integrate CT into the learning environment help students prepare for practice in stressful healthcare settings. In this podcast and article, Dr. Lisa Ruth-Sahd discusses the outcomes of a mixed-methods research study that nursing faculty can use when teaching RN-to-BSN students. Trauma-informed teaching is emphasized.

In today's technology-driven world, nurse educators face the challenge of creating engaging learning experiences. Using 360-degree camera technology, interactive videos were developed with academic, hospital, health department, and rehabilitation partners. In this podcast and article, Drs. Sue Owens, Lenna Westerkamp, Pam Smyth, and Shannon Love discuss this initiative and the impact of this technological approach on student learning.

First-semester nursing students often struggle to connect health assessment and skills lab content with clinical expectations. To bridge this gap, Dr. Pendergraft-Horne and Cory Smith implemented structured entry and exit tickets in labs, guided by the Transparency in Learning and Teaching framework and Bloom's higher-order thinking skills. These tools fostered accountability, clinical application, and inclusive practice. In this podcast and article, they describe this innovative strategy.

Peripheral intravenous catheter (PIVC) insertion is an essential skill for nurses. Students, however, face challenges in learning PIVC insertion due in part to limited opportunities for hands-on practice with real patients. Traditional training methods with low-fidelity task trainers lack variability and depend on costly consumable products. To address this gap, Dr. Jeremy Jarzembak and his team developed a bimanual haptic feedback mixed reality IV simulator. This technology simulates IV needle insertion under diverse conditions. Their article explains the development of this new technology and reports findings on students' improved confidence and success rate.

Nursing students need to develop strong documentation skills. In this podcast and article, Lacy Hester describes an interactive classroom activity she developed that immerses students in a realistic legal scenario where they need to defend their own clinical documentation. Using de-identified notes from students' previous simulations, skills labs, and patient care assignments, students critically review the notes and rewrite entries using correct terminology and format. Students learn to justify their documentation choices and consider the legal implications of their wording.

Generation Z health professions students often struggle to stay engaged with large volumes of assigned readings, especially when the reading involves dense academic texts or unfamiliar vocabulary. Rather than relying solely on independent, out-of-class reading, consider incorporating guided in-class readings as an active learning strategy. Break readings into manageable segments and structure your class to alternate between brief reading periods (5-10 minutes) and guided discussion. This approach helps students process material in real time. Learn more about this classroom strategy from Dr. Kristopher Jackson in this podcast and teaching tip.

Nursing faculty teaching in a prelicensure nursing program implemented a unique way to engage alumni by hosting them as guest instructors during Open Lab experiences. Karen Schofield, Christelle Isaac, and Dr. Bryce Catarelli discuss challenges and benefits to implementing this innovative concept. Additional information can be found in their article.

Nurse Practitioner Residency Days addresses the disconnect between classroom education and real practice. Implementing NP Residency Days into practicum courses gives students real-word clinical challenges and scenarios reflecting the role of the first-year NP. Dr. Emily Lee describes NP Residency Days in this podcast. Read more in her article in Nurse Educator.