3 minute read
Innovation in Education
BY MICHELE WOJCIECHOWSKI
In most educational programs, changes and innovations improve how and what students learn. And nursing school is no different. These innovations can come in various forms: technology, simulations, and more.
Let’s start with technology.
“One advancement is the use of high fidelity. We have always had mannequins. Now we have mannequins that can replicate breathing, bleeding, and a variety of other things,” says Debra J. Barksdale, Ph.D., FNP-BC, CNE, FAANP, ANEF, FAAN, Dean and Professor at the University of North Carolina Greensboro (USCG) School of Nursing.
“Recent advances include facial expressions and emotions. Simulation technology allows us to replicate real-life scenarios safely, whether students are in our BSN program or our DNP Nurse Practitioner or Nurse Anesthesia program. Many programs are also incorporating more VI and AI.” She adds that they have mannequins of all skin colors and male, female, and children.
That’s not all. Kimberly Mau, DNP, MSN, RN, Academic Program Director/Associate Dean at Western Governors University (WGU), says that their school prides itself on staying ahead of the technology curve. “The biggest development in technology WGU has recently adopted is the Resuscitation Quality Improvement® (RQI®) program which is part of The National League for Nursing (NLN), Laerdal Medical, and the American Heart Association. This is a game-changing new approach to CPR. It helps give nurses the confidence to resuscitate cardiac patients to the best of their ability. Since the introduction of RQI in 2015 in collaboration with the American Heart Association, more than 2,400 hospitals and 2 million nurses have adopted and enrolled in the program, and it is estimated that 20,000 lives have been saved.”
Simulation takes another step forward at USCG. In addition to the varied mannequins, Barksdale says they have a simulated apartment, which enables students to learn to care for patients in their homes.
“I love the exercise where faculty members create all potential hazards in the simulated apartment that students need to recognize and address. These potential hazards include fake cigarettes near an oxygen tank, hazards in the bathroom, and trip hazards,” she explains. “That is a great, low-cost teaching, learning simulation exercise. We can also produce other scenarios, such as having a patient decompensate in a hospital-like setting.” As time goes by, courses change as well. For example, although it has offered competency-based education for 25 years, in 2022, WGU redeveloped its RN to BSN program curriculum. As a result, it has courses that align with the new American Association of Colleges and Nursing The Essentials: Core Competencies for Professional Nursing Education. In addition, this updated program aligns with the ten domains of Essentials, competencies, and sub-competencies.
“As recommended in The Essentials, the academic-practice partnership model used in the development of the course material provided for input from practice partners to create courses that are innovative, timely, and reflective of the advancing integrated systems of healthcare,” says Mau. Strengthening opportunities integrated within the new program version include: • Diversity, Equity, and
Inclusion • Transgender nursing care • Value-based care/systembased care • Global population health • Direct and indirect hours in field experience in the four spheres of care outlined in
The Essentials--preventative, chronic, regenerative/restorative, and palliative care.
In addition, Mau says, “The program redevelopment focused upon providing RN to BSN graduates with tools to prepare them for career-long learning. Students will complete six professional development certificates within the program.” Another project at UNCG is LEAD: Leadership, Education, and Diversity (LEAD) in Maternal Child Health. “This project offers a traineeship to some of our students, so they are better prepared to positively impact the health of mothers, babies, and children,” says Barksdale. “Priority in the program is given to those students who self-identify as culturally diverse, underserved, and/or underrepresented backgrounds.”
