Implementation of a Registered Nurse Primary Care Clinical Mentoring Academy.

Registered nurses (RNs) are pivotal team members for improving the quality of care in communities; however, they are underutilized in primary care. Two schools of nursing in Alabama partnered to develop and implement a project to build a resilient primary care RN workforce. A major component of this project is the Primary Care Clinical Mentoring Academy (PCCMA), which was designed to prepare RN clinical mentors to implement positive student learning experiences in the primary care setting. The PCCMA follows a comprehensive curriculum implementing both didactic instruction and interactive activities related to primary care competencies; interprofessional education and collaborative practice; and primary care RN mentor roles and responsibilities. Participants reported that the PCCMA was effective and useful, and they perceived that it would improve their overall job performance as a clinical mentor. The PCCMA is an effective way to produce confident and capable RN mentors in primary care. [J Contin Educ Nurs. 2022;53(7):312-320.].

COVID-19 Telehealth Fair Partnership for Capacity Building in Primary Care Nursing.

Telehealth in health care delivery grew exponentially throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. This growth occurred because of necessity, yet requires capacity building to maximize the technology's use. In this article, we discuss the development, implementation, and evaluation of a telehealth fair to build capacity in the use of telehealth technology within primary care nursing. The telehealth fair consisted of didactic and simulation components. Undergraduate and graduate nursing students completed the telehealth fair supported by a team of 12 nursing faculty and 6 clinical partner sites. Findings suggest statistically significant increases in student self-assessment of knowledge in telehealth, self-confidence in the use of telehealth, and readiness in the use of telehealth technology. Participant satisfaction following completion of the telehealth fair was high, with average scores of 4.2 to 4.58 (out of 5) for the didactic and 4.57 to 4.86 for the simulation components. The telehealth fair provided an invaluable opportunity for participants to enhance their learning relative to telehealth within primary care nursing. The experience also provided an opportunity for students to gain clinical hours during a pandemic when clinical placements in the community were limited. The experience also enhanced telehealth practice readiness of nursing students entering the workforce.

Informatics education for translational research teams: An unrealized opportunity to strengthen the national research infrastructure.

Objective: To identify the informatics educational needs of clinical and translational research professionals whose primary focus is not informatics. Introduction: Informatics and data science skills are essential for the full spectrum of translational research, and an increased understanding of informatics issues on the part of translational researchers can alleviate the demand for informaticians and enable more productive collaborations when informaticians are involved. Identifying the level of interest in different topics among various types of of translational researchers will help set priorities for development and dissemination of informatics education. Methods: We surveyed clinical and translational science researchers in Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) programs about their educational needs and preferences. Results: Researchers from 23 out of the 62 CTSA hubs responded to the survey. 67% of respondents across roles and topics expressed interest in learning about informatics topics. There was high interest in all 30 topics included in the survey, with some variation in interest depending on the role of the respondents. Discussion: Our data support the need to advance training in clinical and biomedical informatics. As the complexity and use of information technology and data science in research studies grows, informaticians will continue to be a limited resource for research collaboration, education, and training. An increased understanding of informatics issues across translational research teams can alleviate this burden and allow for more productive collaborations. To inform a roadmap for informatics education for research professionals, we suggest strategies to use the results of this needs assessment to develop future informatics education.