ABSTRACT
Unprecedented financial and logistical barriers in educating nurses during COVID-19 have threatened nursing education. The purpose of this article is to provide a template to facilitate the maintenance and stability of teaching and learning in a pandemic environment for nursing school administration and faculty leaders. The National Incident Management System (NIMS), previously used in training nurses for emergency preparation and response, has been applied as a guiding framework. The framework consists of five elements: Preparedness, Communication/Information Management, Resource Management, Command and Ongoing Management/Maintenance. This paper addresses how schools of nursing may apply each of these elements to address both the needs of the institution and community. The Comprehensive Vulnerability Management paradigm is further offered as a lens for professional development. Free preparedness education is showcased from leading nursing and healthcare professional and government organizations. Finally, the Quality and Safety Education for Nurses competencies are used for integrating NIMS and social dimensions of disaster. Such tools may equip academic leaders at schools of nursing to surmount challenges posed by the pandemic, and to ensure educational readiness to respond to global health crisis through use of the NIMS framework.
Subject(s)
COVID-19 , Clinical Competence , Education, Continuing/methods , Education, Nursing/methods , Education, Professional/methods , Nurses/psychology , Schools, Nursing/organization & administration , Faculty, Nursing , Humans , Pandemics , SARS-CoV-2ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Strong faculty academic human caring presence is paramount during the exponential use of asynchronous, remote learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. PURPOSE: The purpose of this article is to provide a holistic, theoretical foundation for evidence informed-caring pedagogical practices. METHODS: Watson's (2008; 2018) Unitary Caring Science theoretical approach offers one pedagogical caring framework for advancing teaching-learning in the digital age. DISCUSSION: Examples to humanize the virtual classroom and remote or online teaching include narrative, theory-guided pedagogical approaches, such as creation of caring spaces and other modalities to transcend physical distancing and nurture Communitas (caring community) among of faculty and students. CONCLUSION: A theory-guided, holistic caring pedagogical approach supports the needs of both faculty and nursing students.