Clinical faculty development: using simulation to demonstrate and practice clinical teaching

Students spend more time in clinical settings with smaller student-to-faculty learning ratios than in the didactic setting, yet many clinical faculty have had little exposure to evidence-based teaching strategies and learning theories. Orientation for newly employed clinical faculty, whether novices or experienced teachers, typically focuses on the details of running the clinical experience and not on teaching and learning. Multiple barriers for clinical faculty limit the ability to provide consistent and comprehensive education. The purpose of this article is to share the use of simulation as a strategy to prepare and support clinical faculty in their teaching role.     

Moral reasoning and the student nurse

The traditional curriculum in nurse education has tended to emphasize the acquisition of knowledge and practical skills and to ignore, for the most part, close examination of the social and moral dimensions of the nuree's role. The authors suggest that we ought to include a much more substantial consideration of moral issues in the nurse education and, in particular, they argue that Kohlberg's model of moral development could provide a theoretical framework. This model is based on a cognitive-developmental approach in which an individual's level of reasoning is assessed by the use of a variety of hypothetical dilemmas. Kohlberg claims to identify six qualitatively distinct stages and argues that the transition from one stage to the next results from the individual's active attempts to resolve conflicts arising from moral dilemmas. Some suggestions are made about the ways in which discussion of moral dilemmas might be incorporated within a moral reasoning module in the nurse education curriculum and proposals are made for methods of teaching such a module.     

Nursing presence during death: An end-of-life simulation created by students and faculty

BackgroundNursing curricula often lack end-of-life (EOL) care training, particularly regarding the nursing skill of “being present.” Collaboration between students and faculty in curriculum design is rare, but may effectively help fill the curriculum gaps in EOL care.AimTo describe the creation of a novel EOL care simulation by students and faculty, and its implementation into a pre-licensure Masters of Science in Nursing (MSN) curriculum.MethodsWith support from expert faculty, three students developed an EOL care simulation focused on nursing presence, comfort care, and compassionate communication. Pilot participants submitted pre- and post-test surveys regarding confidence in providing comfort measures for dying patients. The simulation was integrated into the MSN curriculum and simulation evaluations were collected.FindingsPilot data are limited. Once incorporated into the curriculum, 95% of respondents (N = 38; response rate 35%) reported feeling better prepared to respond to changes in patient condition, more confident in their ability to prioritise care and interventions, and better able to communicate with patients. One hundred percent of respondents recommended the simulation for future use.DiscussionA curricular gap in EOL care provided a unique opportunity for nursing students and faculty to develop clinical EOL care training that focused on compassionate nursing presence.ConclusionThis project demonstrated the potential for collaboration between nursing students and faculty to enhance nursing education in EOL care. Pre-licensure exposure to the general principles of EOL care and nursing presence may be beneficial for new nurses entering the workforce.     

Precepting an unsafe student: the role of the faculty

According to a recent study, one of the central findings indicated that preceptors require significantly more support than they are currently receiving from faculty especially when precepting a student who is engaging in unsafe practice. In this grounded theory study, 22 preceptors were interviewed. The findings reveal some interesting implications not only regarding the staffing of preceptorship programs but also the process of preparing faculty as to how to provide preceptors with sufficient and appropriate support throughout the preceptorship experience.     

Seeking autonomy: Grounded theory of clinical reasoning processes during simulation based experiences

AimTo conceptualize how undergraduate nursing students’ reason and think during Simulation-Based experiences (SBE) and explore the indicators of sound clinical judgment.BackgroundNursing students’ clinical reasoning processes during Simulation Based Experiences (SBE) are not well understood and underexplored. The purpose of this study is to conceptualize how undergraduate nursing students’ reason and think during SBE.DesignA constructivist grounded theory methodology was used to explore nursing students’ clinical reasoning during SBEMethodA grounded theory methodology was used to explore nursing students’ clinical reasoning during SBE. A purposive sample was used to recruit participants including 32 third-year nursing students. Data collection using semi-structured interviews conducted over 9 months in 2020–2021. The interviews were recorded and transcribed verbatim and the data were analyzed using the logic of constant comparison supported by memoing, theoretical sampling and conceptual mapping.ResultsSeeking autonomy is the core category that emerged from the participants’ responses that conceptualizes the students' reasoning process during SBEs.ConclusionEvidence from this grounded theory study adds validation to the practice of using SBEs to support students’ clinical reasoning process and prepare them to be competent in clinical practice.     

The faculty advisor role: an imperative for student retention

The decline in applicants to schools of nursing emphasizes the importance of retaining those students who do enroll. The authors review factors affecting student attrition and retention in academic settings. They then present an ideal model for enhancing student retention through effective, individualized, and consistent student advising.     

The effects of student incivility on nursing faculty

In this study, 21 nursing faculty who experienced uncivil encounters with nursing students were interviewed to determine what effects those encounters had on them. The uncivil encounters ranged from relatively mild to highly aggressive, including overt threats to the faculty members' well-being. The effects of the uncivil encounters on the nursing faculty involved were significant and included both short-term and long-term sequelae, such as physical and emotional reactions, decreased self-esteem, loss of confidence in their teaching abilities, significant time expenditures, and negative effects on the educational process. Three faculty members left nursing education and cited their interactions with students as an influential factor.