Improving Patient Safety: Using Bruner's Theory of Constructivism to Develop an Innovative Root Cause Analysis Virtual Simulation for Graduate Nursing Students.

ABSTRACT: Medical errors and near-miss events continue to impact hundreds of thousands of people annually. Given this fact, it is imperative that graduate students entering a career in patient safety are confident and competent in conducting root cause analyses so that they can fix broken systems and improve patient outcomes. Using Bruner's theory of constructivism as a framework, a virtual simulation was developed to provide online graduate nursing students an opportunity to apply classroom knowledge of root cause analyses in a virtual real-world online simulation.

Fostering the Integration of Extrinsic Motivation in an Online Graduate Nursing Education Course.

ABSTRACT: Research indicates that academic performance is increased when intrinsic factors motivate students. Although students may be intrinsically motivated to attend a graduate program, not all topics will be inherently interesting, leaving students to rely on extrinsic factors for motivation. This article proposes that educators use Ryan and Deci's organismic integration theory to design assignments that foster the integration of extrinsic motivation. We describe how a virtual poster session assignment was created in an online nursing education course using the principles of organismic integration theory.

Applied Pediatric Math: Bridging the Gap Between Theory and Practice for a Diverse Group of Learners.

A gap exists between didactic theory and clinical practice when nursing students learn clinical calculations. Educators can provide innovative classroom teaching methods using practical mathematics to decrease this gap. In the simulation lab, students complete weight-based calculations and then administer medications as part of medication skills stations. Math assessments in the psychomotor domain promote application of didactic math content. Implementing math assessments that include a hands-on component facilitates the students' abilities to take math out of the classroom and apply it in clinical practice, enabling the educator to minimize disparities found when students have different mathematics backgrounds.