Life Balance in Nurse Educators: A Mixed-Methods Study.

AIM: The aim of the study was to explore relationships among nurse educator life balance, quality of life, and lived experience of life balance that may be used to develop strategies to prevent or minimize challenging aspects of the profession that lead to dissatisfaction and/or burnout. BACKGROUND: Nurse educator balance is significant to the national nurse faculty shortage crisis. The inability to achieve life balance contributes to job dissatisfaction and burnout, which contribute to the educator shortage. METHOD: Convergent parallel mixed-methods design. RESULTS: Participants were found to have moderate life balance correlating with greater perceived satisfaction. Four themes emerged from the qualitative data: Support, Demands, Workload, and Personal/Time Attributes. CONCLUSION: Findings from this study can be utilized to develop strategies to minimize the nurse educator shortage.

Comparing the Learning Effectiveness of Three Virtual Simulation Tools With Nursing Students During the Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Pandemic.

Background: We explored the learning effectiveness of three virtual simulation tools used in the Coronavirus Disease pandemic environment. Sample: Study participants consisted of students from two nursing classes, a junior and a senior class. Method: A mixed-methods approach compared three tools' performance across five learning domains. Descriptive statistics and analysis of variance compared mean ratings for learning domains. Open-ended questions were included for qualitative evaluation. Results: Thirty-six respondents rated the Resource Simulation Center (RSC), based on the observation of videos of students undergoing simulation exercises, as superior to the other two. There were no differences between the other two tools. Qualitative findings echoed preference by students for "RSC". Conclusion: "RSC" was preferred over a commercial product based on computer generated graphics, and a free-online product based on clinical scenarios acted out in short videos. Differences in debriefing practices may have influenced the results, thereby emphasizing the role of debriefing with virtual simulation tools.

The effects of online course duration on graduate nurse educator student engagement in the community of inquiry.

AIM: The number of online graduate nursing programs across the United States has increased to address a critical shortage of nurse educators. Web-based learning appeals to nurses returning to school as a means of gaining an education at their convenience. More schools are offering compressed courses to meet this demand. Although students have a preference toward shorter intensive online courses, it is unclear how that affects the quality of the learning experience such as student engagement. The study explored the effect of course length on the student learning experience in a graduate online nurse educator course. DESIGN: Using the community of inquiry framework, this study examined the effect of course duration (8-week versus traditional 16-week timeframes) on student engagement, student perceptions of the learning experience and self-reported learning behaviors. Study participants were enrolled in an online graduate nurse educator program located in the northwest United States. METHODS: Data were collected using a background information form, a course evaluation form and the Community of Inquiry Questionnaire which measured teaching presence, social presence and cognitive presence. Data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. RESULTS: High mean scores on the questionnaire showed that a community of inquiry was established regardless of course duration. However, there were differences in terms of the social and teaching presence subscales but not in the cognitive presence subscale suggesting that students in the traditional course were better able to establish the type of rapport with each other that increased comfort and engagement with peer interactions. Independent t-tests revealed statistically significant differences in perceptions of time to complete course activities. Students in the 16-week course were more likely to report that they had adequate time to complete course teachings, think critically about course content, complete course assignments and thoughtfully engage in course discussion and that they performed their best on assignments. CONCLUSIONS: The findings support the traditional course duration over an intensive 8-week format because it allows for students to build a better rapport and greater student engagement with the course materials and peers. The study reinforces previous work on distance education noting social presence and connectedness as essential to optimal online learning. Using the community of inquiry framework and best-practice pedagogies for online education in the design and development of online courses can contribute to greater collaboration and deeper learning.