Scaffolding Role Development and Clinical Reasoning for Online AG-ACNP Students

Scaffolding is a common strategy in undergraduate nursing education; however, scaffolding education for nurse practitioner students is largely unexplored. Adult-Geriatric Acute Care Nurse Practitioner (AG-ACNP) students need activities to maximize improvement and opportunities for repeated practice and feedback on core skills and competencies. An on-campus residency experience was developed to scaffold skill development for AG-ACNP students and enable assessment by faculty. Each semester of their clinical sequence, students came to campus to participate in activities to improve their clinical reasoning skills and prepare for their future roles. Scaffolding of skills for AG-ACNP students results in improved clinical reasoning and role development.