ABSTRACT
Readiness of nurses to respond to disasters has become paramount with the advent and sequelae of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Future of Nursing 2020-2030 report calls for nurses to be knowledgeable in preparing and responding to disaster management. In New Mexico, five associate degree nursing programs and three university nursing programs collaborated to develop a novel project in teaching disaster preparedness using COVID-19 as the disaster. Tabletop methodology via Zoom was used to simulate incident command centers in Zoom breakout rooms. Students were assigned roles to carry out during the four-hour event using resources from FEMA's Emergency Management Institute. Student and faculty post-surveys were completed with themes identified. Students appreciated collaborating with students from different schools, but also identified challenges with the event posed by remote learning. Students reported their "biggest takeaways" and identified action steps for improving future events; particularly, requesting more information to better understand their roles.
ABSTRACT
Background: As part of program evaluation, the New Mexico Nursing Education Consortium, a consortium of eleven state-funded nursing schools, asks that students complete end-of-term surveys. In Spring 2020, a question was added to the survey to elicit challenges experienced by students during the COVID-19 pandemic: "What was the biggest challenge that you had in completing the semester/term?" This question again was asked of students in Spring 2021. Objectives: To determine challenges faced by nursing students in 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic. Design: Qualitative. Settings: Eleven state-funded nursing schools belonging to the New Mexico Nursing Education Consortium. Participants: Students enrolled in member nursing programs. Methods: Braun and Clarke's 2006 thematic analysis. Results: Eight themes were identified for each of the two years. Conclusions: Nursing faculty must anticipate and respond to student feedback while maintaining proficiency in face-to-face and online teaching-learning strategies. Waiting until emergencies arise that require different types of pedagogy is not sufficient to ensure instructor proficiency with online pedagogies.
ABSTRACT
ABSTRACT: Clinical experiences are critical for undergraduate nursing students to apply didactic learning experiences and meet the core competencies established for licensure. However, the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic severely limited access to clinical experiences for undergraduate nursing students. The VA Home Telehealth program provided unique clinical experiences for veteran undergraduate nursing students, increased the use of technology, and limited the adverse effects of the pandemic in a rural, vulnerable population. This collaboration was crucial in helping students progress with their nursing education during a time of crisis.
Subject(s)
COVID-19 , Education, Nursing, Baccalaureate , Students, Nursing , Telemedicine , Veterans , COVID-19/epidemiology , Humans , Pandemics , Primary Health CareABSTRACT
With shortfalls of thousands of nurses throughout the United States, the need for nursing students to graduate and enter the workforce was critical even prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. Innovative nursing education models are needed to mitigate the staggering shortfall. For over 10 years, the New Mexico Nursing Education Consortium (NMNEC) has been recognized as a successful pathway for students to achieve nursing degrees. The NMNEC is a collaborative partnership between university and community college nursing programs who offer a common curriculum and share common academic policies. Students in the community college setting choose an associate degree program or a co-enrolled associate degree/bachelor of science in nursing program. The NMNEC currently includes 16 nursing program sites throughout the state. The development of the NMNEC including its infrastructure, leadership council, committees, and involvement of program directors has contributed to the strength. The outcomes of NMNEC's nursing graduates have been exceptional with strong progression and NCLEX pass percentages. Since NMNEC's inception, diversity and health equity have been strong components of the NMNEC model and curriculum. The NMNEC model provides equity to students at rural community colleges to achieve a bachelor of science degree while remaining in their home settings.
Subject(s)
COVID-19 , Education, Nursing, Baccalaureate , Education, Nursing , Health Equity , Students, Nursing , COVID-19/epidemiology , Curriculum , Health Promotion , Humans , New Mexico , Pandemics , United StatesABSTRACT
The COVID-19 pandemic created an upheaval for nursing faculty teaching students in both didactic and clinical settings. From the intense disruption, opportunities for creative endeavors emerged. Program directors from a consortium of 12 nursing schools met remotely for problem-solving and support. Rich text from minutes of nine program director meetings were analyzed. Aims of our project included identifying challenges that nurse educators encountered during the pandemic, demonstrating benefits of a university and community college partnership model, and informing nurse educators of innovative outcomes that originated from our project. Thematic analysis of meeting minutes revealed four categories: timing and urgency; collaboration, preparation, and teaching; altruism; and what we learned. Further themes were identified from each of the categories. Innovative outcomes were identified from the text including creation of website teaching resources and development of a computer based clinical checklist. Implications for future nursing education included that computer- based simulation will continue to be embedded in nursing curricula. Also, the need for nursing faculty to remain technologically savvy to deliver trailblazing online pedagogies will prominently continue. We conclude that the synergistic collaboration of nursing program directors can have momentous outcomes for support and success of nursing programs.