Nurse Educator Tips for Teaching

Interruptions can increase risks for errors. The Stay SAFE interruption management strategy aims to mitigate errors. Dr. Ginger Schroers describes her multisite study to determine nursing students' interruption management behaviors before and at multiple assessments after learning Stay SAFE. Four study sites (and 60 students) were included. Data were collected over 10 months via direct observation, self-report, and semi-structured interviews. Prelicensure nursing students independently completed 8 simulated scenarios with embedded interruptions. Interruptions occurred during medication administration and handoff. A majority (93-100%) of the students used Stay SAFE in the posttests. This is an intervention we should be teaching in all of our schools of nursing. The article on Stay SAFE is  open access: read and share with your faculty and health system colleagues. You also can read more about the development of Stay SAFE in other articles by Dr. Schroers available at her website.

Students and faculty at a large public university identified a gap in advanced practice nursing education and created a course focused on structural racism and its impact on health outcomes. In this podcast and article, Lisa Mihaly, Linda Stephan, Denisse Porter, Cara McGuinness, and Dr. Alicia Swartz explain the development of the course: Racism, Health Care, and Social Justice. The authors discuss challenges and benefits of teaching this course remotely. Their article includes a table with the course description and objectives and a link to an appendix with weekly content, objectives, readings, and learning activities. You might be interested in another article by the authors on antiracist education for APNs. 

Transitioning to competency-based education in nursing simulation education requires a systematic approach to curriculum assessment. Using the University's Online Simulation System, 2 experts selected American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) behavioral performance indicators that best matched behavioral outcomes associated with simulation student roles in 5 scenarios. In this podcast and article, Dr. Anita Stephen describes the 3-phased approach they used to align cognitive simulation objectives to competencies identified in the AACN behavioral performance indicators. This approach can be used by faculty in other schools. 

Dr. Teresa Conklin discusses the shift toward competency-based education and shares strategies that graduate nursing educators can use to provide proficiency-centered experiences for NP students. In her article she describes the role of an Accessibility Committee to apply the  Americans with Disabilities Act standards to universal design of digital materials. 

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.

Dr. Rebecca Davis describes the clinical evaluation tool that faculty developed to assess clinical competencies based on the AACN Essentials. The tool is structured as a developmental rubric, allowing documentation of each learner's progress toward independence in clinical practice. Faculty identified challenges, however, when assessing competency with a one-size-fits-all clinical evaluation tool, particularly in specialty courses with unique populations and limited clinical practice. This led to the development of course-specific clinical evaluation tools. Learn more about these tools in her article, where she also shares examples of tools with readers.

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.

Nurse educators interact with multiple generations of learners and colleagues. Each generation is unique, which can create divides. In this podcast and article, Dr. Jennifer Chicca shares strategies educators can use to bridge these generational divides.

Despite playing an important role in patient care and advocacy, nurses are consistently underrepresented and quoted in health care media coverage. To address this, Dr. Rachel Malloy developed a media training program for doctoral students based on the 10 published media competencies for nurses. In this podcast and article, she explains why media training for nurses is important, describes the training program, and reports on the outcomes of the program.

In this podcast and article, Drs. Susan Seibert and Stephanie Rexing describe an innovative teaching strategy with nursing and occupational therapy (OT) students. The students were paired in interdisciplinary dyads – one OT student and one nursing student. The nursing students taught and demonstrated key clinical skills (the accurate measurement of blood pressure, radial pulse, respiratory rate, and pulse oximetry) to the OT students. In turn, the OT students provided instruction on assessing range of motion and gross motor strength. Drs. Seibert and Rexing emphasize the need for students to learn about interprofessional practice when they start their nursing and OT programs.

Traditional methods used to teach health assessment skills and diagnostic reasoning in an advanced health assessment and differential diagnosis course limit skill acquisition and personalized feedback. Integrating small-group learning, online simulations, and reflective practice may improve competency outcomes. Drs. Rashmi P. Momin and Kala Christopherson describe a multimodal intervention –  the Small-group Learning, Mega Skills Lab, Online Escape Rooms, and Reflection (SMOR) Toolkit – that they developed to enhance students'  competencies in health assessment, diagnostic reasoning, and clinical documentation. They share the toolkit and other resources in their article.

Resilience supports nursing students as they transition into professional practice, yet limited evidence describes how resilience evolves over time. Dr. Randall and colleagues explored facilitators and barriers to resilience in nursing students as they transition from school to clinical practice (described in their article). In this podcast, Dr. Randall discusses new graduate nurse resilience and the use of photovoice and virtual focus groups to collect these data.

Dr. Tonya Anthony developed an intervention for beginning nursing students to develop their emotional intelligence (EI). She describes this intervention, which included a presentation by two experts in EI, role play, video clips, and other active learning strategies. Dr. Anthony explains how she integrated the intervention in the course and reviews the outcomes with listeners.

If you are looking for a new approach for team teaching, this podcast is for you! Often, teaching teams distribute the course content and then function independently to teach and grade their assigned content. Drs. Cori Heier and Kristin Ashley describe their new model for team teaching. Two faculty members are responsible for the lecture component of the class, and a third faculty member creates and facilitates in-class activities (every 15 minutes) for the content.

Many nursing programs have high rates of students who fail or do not complete their program for other reasons. Retention is a problem when nurses are critically needed. This podcast with Drs. Hanwook Yoo, Xuechun Zhou, and Beth Phillips presents the results of a research study that showcases the importance of assessing academic readiness prior to admission to a nursing program. This article is OPEN ACCESS so read and share widely.

Nursing education focuses on the development and demonstration of clinical judgment, which includes creating plans of care that meet the needs of the intended patient, family, or population. Innovation is a logical next step in nursing practice, filling the gaps left by a lack of evidence or products. During a curricular redesign, a new required course on health care innovations was added to the undergraduate curriculum. This podcast with Dr. Sarah Llewellyn and Edward Zepeda presents a teaching strategy that helps students prepare for advanced or expanded roles in practice to address real-world problems. Be sure to read their article.

Dr. Lori McElroy begins this podcast by describing the effects of trauma on nursing students' academic progression and well being and explains why using a trauma-informed approach (TIA) in nursing education is important. Along with Dr. McElroy, Dr. Stacy King and Dr. Valerie Eschiti discuss some practical strategies faculty can use to create a trauma-informed learning environment for students. They also share the outcomes of their scoping review on literature related to a TIA in nursing education.

Holistic admissions in nursing education consider a range of criteria. In this podcast and article, Stephanie Wood and Andrea Smith discuss the implementation, evaluation, and revision of the holistic admissions process in their nursing program, which led to an increase in the number of underrepresented students admitted to the program.

Doctoral students often face challenges when attempting to write a quality literature review. The process may feel overwhelming to students as they may struggle to organize and synthesize large amounts of literature. In this podcast and article, Dr. Kristy Chunta and Nicole Smith-Rencewicz discuss a checklist they developed to ensure that all sections of the chapter are addressed, including structure, content, and mechanics. This checklist is a helpful tool that can improve doctoral student writing.

Augmented reality (AR) is an emerging interactive technology that can be employed in simulation to enhance student learning. Most of the studies on AR applications examine the participant role rather than the observer role. In this podcast and article, Chelsea Lebo and Ashley Stallworth describe the benefits of AR for observers during high-fidelity simulations. Students found the AR goggles engaging, valuable for visualizing interventions and physiological processes, and helpful for understanding emergent situations and potential patient care strategies. However, a few students had technical difficulties with the AR equipment. The authors discuss AR and its future in nursing education.

Integrating artificial intelligence (AI) into nursing education presents both opportunities and challenges, particularly in fostering culturally competent care. The AI-Generated Patient Education for Diverse Populations assignment is designed for sophomore nursing students to be implemented with a human. In the podcast and article, Melanie Rodriguez describes how AI helps students develop cultural humility skills to prepare them for practice.

Many nurses lack confidence in applying genomics in practice, highlighting the need for improved genomics nursing education. The International Society for Nurses in Genetics convened a steering committee to develop a competency framework defining the role of Genomics Nurse Educators. This podcast with Dr. Deborah O. Himes presents strategies nurse educators can use to teach genomics application through a nursing program. Read the full article – it is OPEN Access (and share with colleagues).

Fostering a strong professional identity (PI) during nursing education can help mitigate burnout and reduce turnover as nurses. In this podcast, Dr. Beth Ann White shares the outcomes of their study to describe the connections between students' educational experiences and their development of PI. Four main themes were pivotal in shaping students' PI: relationships, confidence, autonomy, and hinge moments (meaningful patient interactions or significant clinical events). In their article, the authors describe the full study.

Scaffolding is the technique of providing support and gradually withdrawing support until an individual can perform a task independently. This approach is inspired by Vygotsky's theory of the Zone of Proximal Development. Dr. Ainslie, Dr. Hebert, and Dr. Luke discuss the use of the scaffolding model and how that method can be used for scaling complexity within Nurse Practitioner (NP) curricula. Learn more about this strategy in their article in Nurse Educator.

Multiple-choice questions (MCQs) are the foundation for certification exams. MCQ writing by students is an evidence-based learning modality; however, studies on this strategy in graduate nursing programs are limited. In this podcast and article, Drs. Patti Griffith and Patricia Pawlow describe the outcomes of their scoping review on students writing MCQ in healthcare professions education. Writing MCQs is a valuable active learning strategy for graduate students who take high-stakes examinations. MCQ quality improves with faculty involvement. Working in small groups increases students' knowledge and positive perception of this strategy, as did exam inclusion of student-generated MCQ.

In an effort to engage Neonatal Nurse Practitioner (NNP) students and provide the students with an innovative method of learning difficult concepts, the authors (Dr. Colleen Moss, Dr. Helen Nation, and Mr. Eric Hall) created an escape game. NNP students solved clues to support diagnoses and treatments through analyzing, solving, and unlocking a series of puzzles to "escape" the game within a specified time limit. Learn more about this innovative strategy by reading their article in Nurse Educator.

Drs. Lori Moore, Ashleigh Bowman, Candice Selwyn, Bailey Mosley, and Jennifer Anderson describe forensic nursing and why this content is important for prelicensure students to learn: as nurses, they will care for patients who are victims of abuse. The authors integrated forensic nursing concepts throughout their nursing curriculum (1 hour of lecture and experiential activities in each course). The authors share teaching strategies for integrating these concepts into specialty courses (obstetrics and pediatric). Additional strategies and resources are provided in their article.

Open Educational Resources (OERs) are high-quality, freely accessible educational tools that promote accessibility and foster global knowledge sharing. Faculty developed 2 OER textbooks that students access freely to supplement their learning in their nursing theory courses. These OERs aim to increase critical thinking, clinical judgment, and application of knowledge to real-world clinical contexts. This podcast with Dr. Kateryna Metersky and article present how one school of nursing uses OER resources to promote critical thinking in prelicensure students.

In clinical education, “teaching up” refers to instances when students tactfully share updated clinical information with preceptors who may not be up to date on recent evidence-based practices. In this podcast and article , Drs Ragan Johnson, Janelle Bludorn, and Brittany Macon-Davis describe this challenges for students and offer 2 methods of preparing students to educate their preceptors. In the graduate nursing program, after a prebrief, students role-played scenarios, including outdated asthma guidelines, with faculty serving as preceptors. A structured debrief on giving and receiving feedback, role of power dynamics in professionalism, and psychological and patient safety with the entire class followed with opportunities for students to share various language suggestions. The PA program used a self-directed approach where learners role-played scenarios in which a PA student addressed a preceptor using outdated hypertension guidelines. Structured questions explored giving and receiving feedback and interacting with supervising physicians.

Incivility in undergraduate nursing education is a complex, multifaceted issue. Student-to-faculty incivility can be characterized by behaviors that negatively impact the faculty's ability to perform and enjoy their job. This podcast with Rebecca Weaver (and article) discuss the need for targeted interventions and institutional strategies to address incivility in the academic setting.

The authors developed a guided writing method for an undergraduate nursing course by incorporating 3 active learning strategies: in-class writing workshops, guided worksheets, and real-time collaboration using peer-review teams. By providing students with dedicated time for in-class writing, students avoid procrastination, reduce reliance on AI, and are encouraged to access available resources such as the library and writing and tutoring center. The course was redesigned so that 50% of class time is workshop-based. Drs. Cibele Webb and Nicole Mentag describe this innovation in this podcast and article.

For nursing students, a gratitude jar promotes mindfulness and gratitude by encouraging reflection on the positive aspects of their lives. Dr. Catherine Stubin introduced this method at the start of the semester in a Capstone course with undergraduate senior nursing students, aiming to cultivate a more mindful and appreciative attitude. Students maintained a daily gratitude jar as an at-home exercise, reflecting on the positives in their lives. At the semester's end, they were encouraged to read through their collected notes and reflect on what they were grateful for. Dr Stubin describes this strategy for promoting students' mental health wellness in the podcast and article and how it can be used in any undergraduate or graduate nursing course.

In this podcast, Dr. Laura Klenke-Borgmann describes their reverse-engineered roadmap, using the SimZone system, to develop a competency based education simulation curriculum that culminated with an individual objective structured clinical examination (OSCE). OSCEs also were used to provide deliberate skill practice and small group simulation practice, leading to a summative OSCE. This approach (described further in their article) is a model for other nursing programs to implement competency-based curricula through leveled simulations and iterative learning.

Students from diverse racial-ethnic groups or those who have encountered racism, discrimination, violence, or community unrest are more likely to experience trauma, which impacts their ability to learn. In this podcast and article, Dr. Rana Najjar, who is an expert in trauma-informed (TI) education, provides TI strategies that educators can use to address inequities and enhance the teaching and learning experience for students and faculty.

In this podcast, Faith A. Tissot, RN, MSN-Ed, CCRN, a PhD student at Texas Woman's University, Houston, Texas, explains Nursology.net and the many resources on the website for nurse educators. Nursology.net supports educators in teaching and applying nursing theory and philosophy in both academia and clinical areas and provides many opportunities for collaboration, dialogue, and contributions from educators and nursing students. You can sign up for Nursology.net emails at https://nursology.net/contact/. It's FREE.

Standards for simulated patient encounters have been developed; however, the sequencing of simulation experiences has not been well-established. Sequencing purposefully manipulates the order of nursing content delivery including didactic, simulation, and clinical practice. Limited research has prevented the development of sequencing standards that may improve student learning. Learn more about simulation sequencing in this podcast with Brandy Falconer and the few studies that have been done.

Empathetic communication is a cornerstone of high-quality, patient-centered nursing care, especially in palliative end-of-life situations. Students report anxiety and uncertainty with having difficult conversations with patients in both the simulated and clinical setting. A Choose your Own Adventure Game allows students to explore different approaches to communication, receive immediate feedback, and experience the true impact of their words on patient outcomes. In this podcast and article, Judith Caroline Quick describes this approach and how it builds confidence in  students, allowing them to practice without judgment before communicating with patients in the clinical setting.

Many faculty teaching in DNP programs lack preparation for guiding DNP student scholarship. A large multicampus college of nursing invested in an interdisciplinary DNP faculty development retreat to increase faculty scholarship and strengthen their ability to mentor DNP student projects. Positive outcomes of the retreat included participants' improved confidence in implementing evidence-based practice quality improvement (EBPQI) methods and an increase in DNP student and faculty publications. In this podcast and article, Drs. Jayne Dunlap and Julee Waldrop describe the retreat and include resources for readers to use in their own programs. They also explain the Mountain Model for EBPQI, which presents a new evidence-searching question as an alternative to the PICO. Their article is open access. Share their article widely with faculty teaching in your DNP program, with your students, and with other educators and clinicians.

Integrating night shift clinical experiences into nursing programs offers unique benefits, fostering essential skills often overlooked during daytime clinicals. For faculty considering this integration, the slower pace and distinct dynamics of night shifts provide diversity for professional growth opportunities among students. This podcast with Dr. Vanessa Segura presents a high-impact teaching strategy that helps students assess, plan, implement, and evaluate care in patients during the night shift. The podcast focuses on a comparison between day shift and night shift learning. Learn more about these experiences in Dr. Segura's Teaching Tip.

Practice-based learning is essential in nurse practitioner (NP) education; however, lack of clinical placement opportunities results in variability in clinical experience. Dr. Erin Ziegler and her team developed 4 virtual simulations (VS) covering concussion management, medical assistance in dying, memory concerns in older adults, and prescribing medical cannabis and evaluated their usability, engagement, and impact across 3 Canadian universities. Students' competencies improved significantly for all of the VS, with highest improvement in concussion management. Scores on the Classroom Instructional Support Perception indicated high usability and engagement with the VS, underscoring their effectiveness. Read more about the development of these VS in their Article.

Student development of communication skills is essential for professional practice. To address this, a structured peer review process was implemented in a beginning nursing course, providing students with opportunities to engage in scholarly discourse, refine their writing, and practice crucial conversations in a supportive environment. The teaching strategy involved 3 peer reviews throughout the semester. In this podcast and article, Dr. Kristen Tobin and Christina Buxton explain how they structured the peer review process across the semester and its impact on students' communication skills and confidence.

Classroom Assessment Techniques (CATs) engage learners at lower levels of Bloom's Taxonomy. In this podcast, Dr. Andrew Richards and Mr. Zachary Hall discuss how they developed a CAT known as the Five-Minute Peer Writing Activity to promote engagement at a higher level among students in the classroom setting. Read more about this innovative, interprofessional strategy in their article in Nurse Educator.

Evidence-based guidelines about textbook selection in nursing are lacking. Lucille Downing discussed their study to identify the essential characteristics in nursing textbooks based on a survey of faculty members across the United States.Faculty had a strong preference for textbooks emphasizing clinical judgment and application to practice, with content being the top priority. Additionally, instructor resources, such as test banks and teaching strategies, were prioritized within supplemental resources. Few participants reported formal training in textbook selection. Details about the study are provided in their article.

An unfolding case study for a complex concept such as chronic pain management can be scaffolded across a curriculum to better prepare future nurses for practice. This podcast with Dr. Kari Firestone presents a 4-term unfolding case study that was developed to address gaps in students' learning. It was aligned with the American Association of College of Nursing Essentials and followed a patient from acute to chronic pain transition. Details are provided in their article.