Wanda Bonnel

Integration of high-fidelity patient simulation in an undergraduate pharmacology course.

High-fidelity patient simulations provide unique learning opportunities in undergraduate pharmacology. Every year, adverse drug events in the clinical setting affect thousands of patients. Pharmacology content is often taught independently without a clinical application component. Students have difficulty making the connections between learned content and clinical application; high-fidelity patient simulations provide students with the opportunity to make these connections in a safe environment. Implementing a pharmacological simulation with novice nursing students provides an applied learning experience that promotes knowledge retention, improves clinical judgment, and can produce safe practitioners in the clinical setting. This article discusses high-fidelity patient simulations and provides a pharmacology-based case scenario.

Blended roles: preparing the advanced practice nurse educator/clinician with a web-based nurse educator certificate program

Changing demographics, a nursing shortage, and various societal changes underscore the need for nurse educators and new nurse educator programs. This article describes a Web-based nurse educator program designed to prepare advanced practice nurses for faculty roles while simultaneously preparing them as clinicians. Guided by adult education theory and self-directed learning theory, the Web-based Nurse Educator Certificate (four Web-based nurse educator courses including a teaching practicum) has been developed and offered to clinical masters and postmasters students. This article also describes student work with mentors, interactive Web-based teaching strategies, portfolios, graduate competencies, and initial evaluative data. In the first two years of the program, 48 students have taken at least one course in the Nurse Educator Certificate program and eight students have completed it. A Web-based nurse educator certificate program, as part of a clinical masters or postmasters program, has the potential to help meet the faculty shortage.

Optimizing the Reflective Observer Role in High-Fidelity Patient Simulation.

BACKGROUND The purpose of this descriptive secondary analysis of qualitative data was to gain insights into the role and opportunities of the reflective observer in high-fidelity patient simulation (HFPS). Although the value of HFPS in nursing education has been documented, the reflective observer role in HFPS may not be used to its potential. METHOD This secondary data analysis of a broader study included qualitative interviews of those in observer roles (N = 23). This secondary analysis used content analysis to address research questions related to the reflective observer role. RESULTS Three themes emerged related to using the reflective observer role for self-assessment, peer review and debriefing, and team-focused learning. CONCLUSION Implications for nursing education, including orienting all HFPS participants to reflective observer roles and opportunities, are addressed. Further study of this important role for both individual and team learning is indicated. [J Nurs Educ. 2016;55(6):353-356.].

Preparing health professions' educators via online certificate program: structure and strategies for quality.

Educating the faculty of today and tomorrow presents challenges in the health professions. In rapidly changing clinical and educational settings, faculty need to be prepared to maintain course quality and promote student learning outcomes. This article provides reflective analysis of an established online Health Professions Educator Certificate Program and shares quality teaching/learning structures and strategies that provide flexibility for diverse interprofessional learners. A systems model of structure, process, and outcomes organizes the analysis.

Becoming Part of the Plan to Help Conquer Alzheimer’s Disease: The National Alzheimer’s Project Act

Alzheimers disease presents one of the largest challenges facing the aging population. The National Alzheimers Project Act (NAPA) led to a national plan to engage health care team members in addressing this challenge. As nurse clinicians, educators, and researchers review the NAPA and resultant national plan, they can gain further direction in enhancing or expanding their roles to help stem the devastation of Alzheimers disease.

Paving the way for post-master's DNP graduates in clinical gerontological leadership.

D of nursing practice (DNP) students at the postmaster’s level bring unique opportunities to gerontological nursing at a critical point in time. With a rapidly increasing cohort of older adults, advanced gerontological and leadership expertise is needed. Opportunities exist for gerontological role development in education, advanced clinical care, and broad systems and population leadership. Graduate faculty can encourage this influx of post-master’s students to focus on clinical gerontological leadership— guiding them in advanced projects, partnering with clinical agencies—to advance safe quality care of older adults. In this guest editorial, opportunities are shared for both post-master’s DNP students and for faculty to guide in advanced clinical leadership for gerontological nursing. Advancing education to promote improved patient care in increasingly complex settings has been recommended in national reports such as The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health (Institute of Medicine [IOM], 2011). This report has particular relevance for the current influx of post-master’s students in DNP programs. These individuals bring enthusiasm for their clinician roles and typically years of clinical experience to this clinical doctorate. This background provides an opportunity to merge professional experience with their DNP coursework to develop gerontological leadership skills. They also gain opportunities to develop projects important to older adults and the individuals who care for them.

Revisiting Patient Education in Changing Health Care Times

E patient education, although essential with any health care interaction, is especially important at hospital discharge, a time of transition back to home or a new setting. With either brief or extended hospital stays for acute problems, older adults with common sensory impairments and complex acute and chronic care plans are often at special risk for problems. The current editorial serves to remind nurses to recall best patient education practices, including easily accessible resources, as tools for supporting quality patient care for older adults.