Making group work gratifying: Implementing and evaluating a three-stage model of group processes in an online nursing course.

Background: Teamwork skills are important professional competencies; teaching them can be challenging in online nursing education.

Purpose: To describe the implementation of a three-stage model for successful group processes in an asynchronous online course and evaluate its effectiveness.

Methods: The three-stage model for group work was used to identify students' needs and concerns, and adaptations to the model were made to reflect specifics of the online environment.

Curriculum and teaching methodologies that effectively refine DNP students' project proposals.

Background: Despite early and continuing development of guidelines and frameworks by scholars and others, including AACN, to streamline the DNP project process, incorporation of DNP project resources into educational practice remains impeded.

Purpose: To share a curricular innovation and specific teaching methodologies aimed at refining DNP students' project proposals.

Methods: Faculty developed a new DNP project proposal course utilizing low stakes writing assignments with feedback to elevate student learning and performance.

Student perceptions of faculty caring in online nursing education: A mixed-methods study.

Background: As the prevalence of online nursing education increased, so did the need for faculty to understand student perceptions of faculty behaviors that demonstrate caring and promote student success. Literature from both education and nursing journals supported this study.

Objectives: Primary objectives were to identify how the value of caring is made visible in online learning, to understand how students prioritized faculty caring behaviors and to identify any significant differences in perceptions related to student demographics.

Building psychiatric advanced practice student nurse competency to conduct comprehensive diagnostic interviews using two types of online simulation methods.

Background: Through innovative use of established technologies, online nursing programs can provide psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner (PMHNP) students with robust virtual experiences for learning professional competencies, including those involving psychomotor and affective domains.

Purpose: To describe a virtual simulation teaching methodology using online text-based simulations of patient visits prior to a virtual standardized patient (SP) encounter in an asynchronous online course for PMHNP students.

Method: Student learning experiences were framed by the Framework for the 21st Century Learning.

Students Experience Mass Casualty Nursing From the Patient Perspective in a Simulated Mass Casualty Exercise.

Life-saving response to mass casualty incidents (MCIs) requires education and training. Participation in an MCI full-scale exercise provided nursing students with a rare opportunity to experience a simulated disaster from the patient perspective to better understand the unique issues involved in mass casualty response. This innovative teaching approach enabled students to undergo triage and decontamination as victims of a chemical MCI and participate in a research study.

Initiation of a nursing education curriculum with accessibility to all learners.

Over the last few decades, a surge in academic programs developed and offered through distance education has occurred. Educators have embraced course work and programs delivered through asynchronous online formats. The University of South Carolina College of Nursing designed a plan to assure online courses and course components would meet all federal, state and university mandates for materials to be accessible to all students, including those with disabilities.

Using a Continuing Multimedia Case Study to Develop Critical Thinking and Empathy.

Background: Critical thinking and empathy are essential elements in attaining competencies expected of Bachelor of Science in Nursing graduates. Our purpose is to describe the use of a continuing multimedia case study in a large online course, including the pedagogical framework, implementation, and impact on student learning.

Method: We adapted qualitative analysis strategies to thematically analyze data from course assignments to demonstrate evidence of the development of critical thinking and empathy.

Using Debates to Teach Evidence-Based Practice in Large Online Courses.

Background: To engage in evidence-based practice (EBP), baccalaureate nursing graduates' competencies must include locating, interpreting, appraising, and applying research findings. Faculty are challenged to find effective ways to incorporate this content in large online courses.

Method: Faculty in a thriving college of nursing used interactive debates to teach EBP skills in a large (200+ students) online undergraduate course.

Redesigning a graduate research course for evidence-based competencies.

Nursing research is critical to establish the science for the discipline and to provide a foundation for evidence-based practice. All nurses need to understand the research process and engage in research at the level for which they were prepared. The American Association of Colleges of Nursing has clearly outlined essential learning outcomes for each level of nursing education, including the competent application of research findings to clinical problems.