Carla Randall

Background: In Fall 2009, a New England public university school of nursing (SON) and an urban medical center (MC) began to address a predicted shortage of nurses by means of piloting an integrated approach to nursing education. Purpose: The purpose of this presentation is to focus on one aspect of the project which looked to explore how nursing education and practice can work together in meeting the demand of a complex and increasingly technological workplace. Methods: This was a 3-year study that admitted 44 students in two cohorts. Students were required to be Certified Nursing Assistants, and meet criteria for admission to the accelerated program (previous undergraduate degree). The project focused on integration of learning between classroom, laboratory, simulation, and clinical experiences. Ten SON faculty and five MC staff were recruited to team teach nursing courses. Qualitative data were collected through focus groups from student participants and SON faculty/MC staff that described student and faculty experiences. Thematic analysis was conducted from tapes and transcripts obtain in the focus groups. Results: The results showed considerable appreciation from students and teachers regarding team teaching with clinical nurse teachers being embedded in the classroom and laboratory. Some of the other themes included: learning to think like a nurse, challenges of being a nursing student, and adopting a new model of teaching/learning. Conclusions/Implications: Conclusions and Implications of the study included: the value of integrating clinical faculty into the classroom, that sustainability of the model is challenging, and that this model supports students learning to think like a nurse

BACKGROUND Despite recommendations put forth by the National League for Nursing to incorporate a scope of practice and develop core competencies for nurse educators, nursing education is experiencing the effects of a faculty shortage. Many schools of nursing find it necessary to hire faculty members who have limited preparation as educators. The purpose of this study was to develop critical incident videos (CIVs) and evaluate how CIVs captured common teaching challenges. METHOD This mixed-methods study used a participatory action research approach and involved three parts: an online survey, development of CIVs, and focus groups. RESULTS The survey captured challenging teaching situations that were operationalized for development of 10 CIVs. Using CIVs in focus groups revealed six key themes: Role Clarification, Isolation, Teaching Communication, Teaching Learning to Learn, Teacher Development, and Usefulness. CONCLUSION CIVs were successful in capturing realistic teaching challenges...

BACKGROUND Despite recommendations put forth by the National League for Nursing to incorporate a scope of practice and develop core competencies for nurse educators, nursing education is experiencing the effects of a faculty shortage. Many schools of nursing find it necessary to hire faculty members who have limited preparation as educators. The purpose of this study was to develop critical incident videos (CIVs) and evaluate how CIVs captured common teaching challenges. METHOD This mixed-methods study used a participatory action research approach and involved three parts: an online survey, development of CIVs, and focus groups. RESULTS The survey captured challenging teaching situations that were operationalized for development of 10 CIVs. Using CIVs in focus groups revealed six key themes: Role Clarification, Isolation, Teaching Communication, Teaching Learning to Learn, Teacher Development, and Usefulness. CONCLUSION CIVs were successful in capturing realistic teaching challenges...

Objective: The purpose of this study was to understand the experiences of clinical instructors participating in a simulated experience teaching ethics.Background: Teaching ethics is an essential role of the clinical instructor. Limited information exists to guide instructors in the teaching of ethics in clinical settings. Clinical nursing instructors are often hired based on their experience as clinicians and are underprepared to teach ethics to nursing students during clinical instruction.Methods: A qualitative descriptive interpretive approach was used to understand the experiences of clinical faculty who participated in simulation based learning activities that explored ways to include ethics in clinical teaching. A video, case studies, and role-playing provided an opportunity to practice responding to teaching challenges and explored strategies for guiding ethical learning in clinical teaching.Results: Participants realized that ethics could be integrated into clinical teaching ...

The health needs of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) population are traditionally overlooked by the health care community and are rendered invisible by most nursing school curricula. Initial contact with a nurse during a health history and assessment can have an impact on whether the person will feel comfortable disclosing his or her identity, returning for services, or following plans of care. Because the first interaction with a nurse can be critical, the health assessment course is an appropriate place in the curriculum to discuss the needs of the LGBT community. This article includes a discussion of unique health risks to the LGBT population, benefits, and challenges of incorporating these issues into the classroom and recommendations for including the care of this population into a health assessment nursing course. Specific communication techniques are provided that may be helpful during history taking and physical examination with a patient who is LGBT. Guidance regarding physical examination of the transgender patient is also included. These suggestions will be helpful to nurse faculty who teach health assessment, nursing students, educators who design and implement professional development and continuing education for established nurses, preceptors in the clinical setting, and any nurse who is unfamiliar with the needs and concerns specific to the LGBT population.

Much has been written in the nursing literature about the intentions and desires of a transformatory movement in nursing education. However, dialogue and critique related to actual implementation of a curriculum revolution begun in the late 1980s are lacking. The acute care context of nursing practice holds particular challenges for faculty teaching in an emancipatory curriculum. How do faculty implement a philosophy of teaching-learning congruent with the curriculum revolution, in the context of an acute care setting that privileges empirical knowledge and values a behaviorist paradigm? In this article, we provide an example of one teaching approach grounded in an emancipatory ideology: critical questioning. We also discuss some of the tensions we associate with teaching-learning in an acute care context and our experiences of navigating these tensions.

This exploratory study identified the attitudes of BSN educators in a midwestern state towards lesbians. A 50% (N100) return rate of mailed questionnaires elicited responses to 48 statements about lesbians and lesbianism on a modified Likert scale. The questionnaire included general demographic data and responses to statements seeking information about topics of lesbianism or lesbian issues. Specific areas addressed included moral and ethical responses, knowledge statements, sexuality or sex related statements, normalness of lesbians and lesbian behavior, and social contact with lesbians. Notable findings revealed that BSN educators were not personally fearful of sexual advances from lesbians; however, they did indicate concern about lesbians molesting and caring for children as well as lesbians in the role of educators. More than half believed that lesbianism is not a natural expression of human sexuality.

The American Psychological Association's Committee on Gay and Lesbian Concerns (Herek, 1987) expressed a need for research that focuses specifically on the concerns of lesbians. To this end, we attempted to identify stereotypes about lesbians, as noted in 278 female nursing students' responses to open-ended questions. Content analysis of the responses revealed a number of consistent themes or stereotypes. The most prevalent stereotypes included lesbians' seduction of heterosexual women, lesbian "boasting," and the "masculine aura" of lesbians. None of the participant variables (age, educational level, social class, and type of nursing education) were significantly related to particular stereotypes. The impact of stereotypes on the acceptance of lesbians within society is discussed.