By Susan Sportsman, PhD, RN, ANEF, FAAN
Most of us have been coping, both personally and professionally, with the results of social distancing as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. While we would like life to return to “normal,” we also worry about the health impact of returning to our “face-to-face” lives. Equally important, when this crisis passes, what will the new normal look like? Continue reading “Testing Online in the Era of Social Distancing”
By Susan Sportsman, PhD, RN, ANEF, FAAN
Online discussion boards provide the most effective learning when students are given the opportunity to demonstrate higher order thinking skills. Regardless of the topic of discussion, students must be able to demonstrate that they can: Continue reading “Evaluating Online Discussions”
By Susan Sportsman, PhD, RN, ANEF, FAAN
The impact of the coronavirus is being felt everywhere. As I write this, schools, colleges, and universities across the country are temporarily closed and planning to move classes to online instruction when they reopen. For faculty in nursing programs, this directive is manageable, as many face-to-face courses involve some level of interaction online. However, as I talk to faculty from across the country, I hear concerns regarding the loss of a caring learning environment among students and faculty in courses delivered only online. I also hear concerns that implementing teaching-learning strategies to stimulate critical thinking is more difficult in an online environment that in face-to-face instruction. Perhaps during this national emergency it would be helpful for all of us to think about “best practices” for online instruction, particularly those that involve creating a caring environment that encourages critical thinking. Continue reading “Online Learning: Creating a Caring Environment that Encourages Critical Thinking”
By Susan Sportsman PhD, RN, ANEF, FAAN
The National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN) recently posted on their website five types of questions that they will include as part of the Next Generation NCLEX (NGN) test revision. While the NCSBN intends to continue to use the multiple-choice test format which currently makes up a significant portion of the NCLEX exam, other types of test items will also be included. Continue reading “NGN-Style Questions—What Should We Do Now?”
by Susan Sportsman, PhD, RN, ANEF, FAAN and Cathy Converse
“Courage is the first of human qualities because it’s the quality that guarantees the others.” –Aristotle
Introduction
Leadership is on the hearts and minds of most of us as we navigate the complexities of our personal and professional lives. Although volumes have been written about effective leadership using a variety of perspectives, the need for courage in times of conflict and discord, particularly in situations of perceived high risk, seems particularly relevant. Few environments represent higher risk than health care. Continue reading “The Case for Courageous Leadership”
by Susan Sportsman, PhD, RN, ANEF, FAAN
We would all agree that change in our world continues to escalate. Change impacts every aspect of our lives, including our work environments. One factor that complicates our response to change in the workplace is the number of generations represented by employees. Colleagues who grew up in different times often see the world through a different lens, which may lead to conflict. As multiple generations attempt to address challenges of change, different perceptions of the best way forward can complicate planning and decision-making. Continue reading “Coping with Change in a Multigenerational Context”
By Susan Sportsman, PhD, RN, ANEF, FAAN
Our responses to others are influenced by many factors, some of which are attributable to our own thoughts, experiences and emotions, and some that reflect our responses to the behavior of others. As educators, we bring those thoughts, experiences, and emotions to our interactions with students. We are called to react positively to all our students, assessing them objectively and providing appropriate challenges for their strengths and support for their weaknesses. This is a lofty goal and one that is often hard to do. One reason for this difficulty—although certainly not the only one—is the impact of our own biases, particularly those that are implicit. In fact, concern over the role that implicit biases play in all aspects of our lives is a “hot topic” in both the scientific literature and popular culture. Continue reading “Implicit Bias: Does it Impact Nursing Education?”
By Susan Sportsman, PhD, RN, ANEF, FAAN
Last month, I was pleased to give a presentation at a faculty development workshop on Evidence-based Practice (EBP) in Nursing Education at the Jane and Robert Cizik School of Nursing at the University of Texas at Houston. The participants were very engaged in our discussion and provided me with food for thought for this blog. The question that kept bubbling up for me as I traveled home from Houston was, “What evidence do we actually use as we plan our curricula, our courses, and our teaching-learning strategies for class, lab/simulation, and clinical experience?”
Continue reading “Evidence-Based Practice in Nursing Education”
Writing test items for a faculty-made test is perhaps one of the most difficult tasks that a faculty member faces. In Critical Thinking in Test Item Writing, Morrison, Nibert, and Flick (2006) emphasize the importance of crafting a test item that requires test-takers to at least apply content in order to correctly answer the question. This recommendation reflects the National Council of State Board of Nursing’s policy that all NCLEX test items require cognition at the application level or higher. Yet, we all know how difficult it is to develop test items that correspond to the upper levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy of Cognitive Behavior.
Continue reading “The “Application or Higher” Dilemma in the Era of Next Generation NCLEX”Given the buzz around Next Generation NCLEX (NGN), you probably already have a good understanding of what NGN is and what you can be doing now to start preparing for this increased focus on clinical judgment. (If not, check out our recent articles on these topics.) This month we will drill down into the use of cues as a means of providing opportunities for nursing students to practice clinical judgment throughout their educational experience.
Continue reading “Next Generation NCLEX: The Importance of Cues”
