Implications of the COVID-19 pandemic: Virtual nursing education for delirium care.

BACKGROUND: Technology is increasingly used in nursing education, particularly during the SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) pandemic. COVID-19 also brought new challenges to patient care and limited access to in-person clinical experiences for nursing students. Pivoting to virtual simulation (VS) for clinical was necessary during the height of the pandemic. With students' return to clinical settings, VS experiences continue to be needed, due to quarantine of clinical settings and/or shortage of available clinical sites. VS clinical experiences have been successfully utilized over the past decade; however, the literature lacks resources on the use of VS for delirium care of patients. METHOD: In this article, the authors describe the creation and provision of a VS clinical day using interactive computer-based technology to educate nursing students to prevent, recognize, and manage delirium. The VS clinical was in conjunction with a Behavioral Health course. RESULTS: Evaluation of students demonstrated attainment of objectives. Students reported satisfaction with the VS experience. CONCLUSION: Technology in nursing education and use of VS clinical provide effective strategies for clinical learning when in-person clinical experiences are unavailable, either due to access limitations or lack of patients with specific health needs.

Integration of the Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment Screening Instrument Into School Nurse Practice.

Substance abuse in adolescents has been recognized as a public health problem at the national and global levels. Adolescents are at risk for experimenting with substances. School nurses in secondary schools are well positioned to screen and counsel students on substance use. In this project, school nurses' self-efficacy levels increased in using the Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT) process posteducation, and SBIRT was integrated into school nurses' practice. Initiatives aimed at stopping or preventing substance use are beneficial for a healthy society.

Educating the next generation of nurses to be innovators and change agents.

With over 4 million nurses in the United States and an ever changing health care environment, undergraduate nursing faculty must consider proactively educating students on essential principles of innovation within the core curriculum. New nurses must be prepared to identify and facilitate innovations to enhance patient and populations outcomes. The purpose of this paper is to describe an approach to prepare the next generation of registered nurses to be innovators and change agents through a Health Care Innovation Program within an undergraduate nursing program. The paper describes the importance of innovations within nursing and provides details on the curriculum and approach used to incorporate health care innovations content and application. Examples of health care innovation student projects are provided. An evaluation of the program after three years of implementation assessed graduates' use of taught innovation principles and their own innovative behaviors. The majority of graduates described using innovation principles taught in the Program and scored high on innovation self-efficacy. Graduates with higher average innovation scores were more likely to engage in innovative behavior. A national conversation is encouraged to ensure our educational programs are effectively preparing the future generation of nurses to be innovators and change agents.