Teaching Prelicensure Nursing Students Reasoning in Clinical Experiences: A Pilot Study.

BACKGROUND: Clinical experiences are foundational learning components for prelicensure nursing students. Given the complexities of modern nursing practice in an aging America, clinical educators must teach nursing students to reason when engaging in patient care. Contemporary pedagogy to enhance reasoning relies on case studies and simulation. Specific and standardized methods for clinical education are largely absent in the literature. METHOD: This pilot study measured the clinical reasoning ability of nursing students using the Health Sciences Reasoning Test (HSRT). Participants completed the test before their first clinical day and again after their last clinical day. Pre- and posttest HSRT scores were analyzed by control and intervention groups as well as student levels. RESULTS: Posttest HSRT scores improved significantly in the intervention group at the end of the semester. CONCLUSION: The PREP framework is a novel approach to clinical education and improved the clinical reasoning of prelicensure nursing students. [J Nurs Educ. 2023;62(8):467-470.].

Student and faculty perceptions of effectiveness of online teaching modalities.

BACKGROUND: When the COVID-19 pandemic forced colleges and universities to rapidly transition from face-to-face teaching to online teaching/learning environments, different instructional methods were employed to deliver course content and help students remain engaged in learning. With the transition back to the on-campus environment, select online teaching modalities may be effective in the face-to-face environment as well. While online and distance learning have been extensively studied, little research is available to guide faculty in using technologies designed for distance learning in the face-to face environment. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to determine pre-licensure baccalaureate nursing student and nursing faculty perceptions of the effectiveness of various online teaching modalities. METHOD: A mixed-methods study using a convenience sample of students and faculty at two universities was conducted. Students and faculty completed a researcher-developed survey to rate a variety of online teaching methods and technologies from a scale of one (not effective at all) through six (extremely effective). Participants also provided comments within the survey and in focus groups of randomly selected students and faculty. Surveyed items included modes of asynchronous and synchronous instruction, instructional technology, and instructional activities. RESULTS: There were significant differences as well as similarities in student and faculty perceptions of effectiveness. Students demonstrated a clear preference for pre-recorded lectures, while faculty perceived synchronous lectures and assigned readings to be equally as effective as pre-recorded lectures. Synchronous activities such as case studies and student presentations were rated as more effective by faculty than by students. Both groups perceived instructional games, especially quiz games, as very or extremely effective. CONCLUSIONS: Students were more engaged with instructional activities that they perceived as effective for learning. The results of this study will assist faculty in developing effective online and in-person instruction which will optimize the teaching/learning experience.

Feelings on remote education in the era of coronavirus pandemic, a pilot study.

The 2020 COVID-19 pandemic required schools of nursing to change content delivery to a remote platform. For those who had little or no previous online educational experiences, this change created an array of feelings and emotions in both students and faculty. METHODS: A mixed method exploratory study was used to explore the feelings and emotions of students and faculty associated with the rapid adjustment to changes in delivery of content and its impact on their emotional well-being. RESULTS: Feelings of frustration, stress, and anxiety at the pandemic in general, and toward remote learning in particular were found. The inability to see others in person was also a source of stress. DISCUSSION: Major themes such as increased workload and the displeasure with having didactic content delivery online were major themes. Students prefer mandatory synchronous didactic delivery and were concerned that online clinical experiences may not be as effective as in-person clinical experiences.

Enhancing Observers' Learning During Simulations.

Health care facilities are charged with the challenging task of establishing and maintaining quality of nursing care. As more health care facilities adopt patient simulation as a strategy for increasing the quality of nursing care, nursing professional development specialists struggle to ensure that all participants have positive learning experiences. Staff members assigned to the role of observer pose a unique challenge because they do not actively participate and may disengage from the learning process. Instructing the observers to lead the debriefing session transforms them into active participants. The traditional method of observers learning vicariously through role modeling can be enhanced by more active involvement during debriefing. Professional role development, greater feelings of achievement, and improved clinical competence will occur with observer-led debriefing. The focus of this article is to discuss an innovative way to capture and hold the attention of those staff members assigned to the role of observer in patient simulation. J Contin Educ Nurs. 2017;48(10):454-457.

Making the Case for Simulation-Based Assessments to Overcome the Challenges in Evaluating Clinical Competency.

The use of simulation in nursing has increased substantially in the last few decades. Most schools of nursing have incorporated simulation into their curriculum but few are using simulation to evaluate clinical competency at the end of a semester or prior to graduation. Using simulation for such high stakes evaluation is somewhat novel to nursing. Educators are now being challenged to move simulation to the next level and use it as a tool for evaluating clinical competency. Can the use of simulation for high-stakes evaluation add to or improve our current evaluation methods? Using patient simulation for evaluation in contrast to a teaching modality has important differences that must be considered. This article discusses the difficulties of evaluating clinical competency, and makes the case for using simulation based assessment as a method of high stakes evaluation. Using simulation for high-stakes evaluation has the potential for significantly impacting nursing education.

The simulation revolution: what are the implications for nurses in staff development?

High-fidelity patient simulation is now touted as the new pedagogy in undergraduate nursing education. As colleges of nursing incorporate simulation into the curriculum, the question becomes what is the role of staff development educators in using simulation to build upon knowledge gained in undergraduate education? This article examines strategies for improving educational activities, patient safety, and orientation by adopting simulation.

The Teacher-Scholar Project: how to help faculty groups develop scholarly skills.

Nursing education's challenge in the new millennium is to prepare all nurses as scholars. With many nurse educators feeling like impostors when it comes to scholarship, this is no small task. Turning the millenial challenge into an opportunity, this article describes how a collaborative faculty development initiative is turning a National League for Nursing Center of Excellence school's "scholar-impostors" into teacher-scholars. This Teacher-Scholar Project will interest those in teaching intensive schools of nursing or in teaching tracks in research-intensive institutions.

We have a high-fidelity simulator, now what? Making the most of simulators.

High-fidelity simulators are becoming the tool of choice in preparing today's nursing students for the clinical setting. Many colleges of nursing have purchased these simulators but they remain unused partly due to the reluctance of faculty learning to operate them. The College of Nursing and Allied Health Professions at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette has three simulation labs with 6 SimMans, 8 Nursing Kelly VitalSims, 4 Simbabies, and 2 NOELLE birthing simulators. This article describes methods to maximize the use of simulators, dispel reservations of faculty, and provides hints on how to build successful scenarios and how to encourage their use.

High-fidelity patient simulation and nursing students' self-efficacy: a review of the literature.

This paper highlights findings from a literature search to examine the effects of patient simulation on students' self-efficacy and confidence. The old teaching method of "see one, do one and teach one" which has long been used to teach nursing skills and to promote the acquisition of clinical expertise is no longer accepted as the best way to teach students. A nurse's confidence in her/his ability is essential for good patient care. Only when nursing students have confidence in their own abilities are they able to shift focus to the needs of their patients. Shifting from their own needs to that of a patient is essential to being a safe and competent practitioner. A literature review was conducted to examine the available research findings relating to self-efficacy in the education of nurses, high-fidelity patient simulation effect on nurses' self-efficacy, and the effectiveness of high-fidelity simulation and its challenges.