Date of Paper/Work
5-2023
Type of Paper/Work
Doctor of Nursing Practice Project
Degree Name
Doctor of Nursing Practice
Department
Nursing
First Advisor
Maria Tice
Department/School
Doctor of Nursing Practice
Abstract
Background and Problem: Many nursing students graduate with poorly developed clinical judgment skills placing patients at risk for poor outcomes. Nurse faculty can address this problem but are often unprepared. Research shows that faculty development focused on high-level teaching strategies supported by Tanner’s Clinical Judgment Model can prepare faculty to foster students’ clinical judgment skills in the clinical setting. Clinical faculty must be better prepared to develop students’ cognitive processes to prepare practice-ready nurses.
Purpose: This quality improvement project seeks to design and implement an eLearning module for clinical nurse faculty to (1) increase faculty’s self-efficacy in fostering clinical judgment in the clinical setting; (2) change faculty behavior to implement clinical judgment teaching strategies into their practice; and (3) understand the module’s effectiveness in meeting faculty learning needs.
Methods: Participants included part-time and full-time faculty teaching clinical at an urban associate degree nursing program. A pretest-posttest design was used to evaluate faculty self-efficacy. A post- survey and 13-week follow-up survey were used to evaluate course effectiveness in meeting faculty needs and self-reported implementation of clinical judgment strategies.
Intervention: A 1.5-hour highly interactive, engaging eLearning faculty development module provided content on high-level teaching strategies supported by Tanner’s Clinical Judgment Model.
Results: Overall, mean self-efficacy increased, but not statistically significant. All participants found this course to be beneficial. Five out of seven participants implemented clinical judgment teaching strategies in their courses. Qualitative data indicated that the module provided guidance and tools to foster clinical judgment and helped to develop a robust post-conference.
Conclusion: This project shows that an eLearning module that integrates high-level teaching strategies supported by Tanner’s Clinical Judgment Model can change faculty behavior. When faculty are more prepared to promote high-level learning, this has the potential to strengthen students’ clinical judgment skills and, therefore, improve patient safety.
Recommended Citation
Armstrong, Erin Melissa. (2023). An eLearning Module to Prepare Clinical Nurse Faculty to Foster Clinical Judgment: A Quality Improvement Project. Retrieved from Sophia, the St. Catherine University repository website: https://sophia.stkate.edu/dnp_projects/180