June 12, 2019 | NLN CEO Update on NLN Centers

Colleagues, do you remember the day you encountered a high-fidelity simulation manikin for the first time? We all marveled at their capacity to mimic the human response but for a long while, we heard too many accounts of how schools of nursing left their manikins in their original shipping containers. Fortunately, thanks largely to NLN efforts, in collaboration with our partners at Laerdal Medical, it did not take too long for simulation to be accepted as a standard part of the nursing curriculum. The NLN continued to take the lead in research on the use of simulation, the development of resources available through SIRC (our Simulation Innovation Resource Center), and the development of the highly valuable NLN Jeffries Simulation Theory. These efforts were housed in the NLN Center for Innovation in Simulation and Technology.

Simulation and other technologies are now disruptors in nursing education. Over the past few years, as research demonstrated that the teaching strategy of simulation, along with debriefing, is effective in creating learning, we began to better appreciate the phenomenon of this revolutionary pedagogy. We now see the benefit of shifting from strictly a cognitive approach in nursing education to a relational approach, where learners and faculty construct knowledge, attitudes, and skills collaboratively. Simulation pedagogy is based on experiential learning with a shift from teaching students the content to teaching them how to use the content. It is the pedagogy of active learning and the teaching and learning principles that are the foundation for successful learning. Active learning strategies vary and include simulation, unfolding case studies, problem-based learning, and the incorporation of technologies to engage today's learners.

Essentially we came to realize that our focus on simulation and technology is limiting, and for that reason I am excited to announce our restructured Center for Innovation in Education Excellence, under the direction of Susan Gross Forneris, PhD, RN, CNE, CHSE-A. How will this new Center differ from its predecessor? In brief, the Center will cultivate, scale, and impact excellence and innovation in nursing education to meet the needs of contemporary learners across the discipline through cutting-edge teaching and learning resources, community building to expand and support the role of the nurse educator, and evidence-based processes to measure excellence and educational impact. This will mean an intentional process of engaging members and outside constituents, including corporations, through think tanks and maker-space activities to move through innovation, scaling, and the launching of new programs.

This contemporary concept of maker spaces, generally defined as a physical location where people gather to share physical resources and knowledge to build solutions, will be operationalized by bringing faculty together both physically and virtually. Our maker spaces will study innovative teaching and learning strategies to improve student learning along the novice-to-expert trajectory. Reflection and evaluation of outcomes will be conducted with intentionality toward evidence-based nursing education research. I could not be more thrilled.

The new Center will house our Institute for Simulation and Technology and the Institute for Care of Vulnerable Populations, which in turn will house our valuable and highly popular ACE resources. We are confident that the new structure will create greater alignment between faculty development needs and innovative educational platforms for contemporary learners.

Before I close, I have some news about CNE. We are looking for volunteers to sign up for pilot testing of Forms 15 and 16 of the Certified Nurse Educator exam. Volunteers can take the exam and receive a discount of $100 off the regular fee through July 15. Results will not be available immediately, but will come four to six weeks after the pilot testing closes on August 31 after the passing score is determined. Participation is voluntary and the CNE exam will remain available at the regular fee with immediate results at the testing center. Register now.

And finally — in case you missed it — here's a wonderful story from the Rory Meyers College of Nursing at New York University. Frank Baez, who came to the United States from the Dominican Republic in 2004 when he was 15 years old, just got his nursing degree after finishing an accelerated 15-month program. The first in his family to graduate college, Frank was attracted to nursing as a teenager when he worked as a hospital janitor and then in patient transport at New York University. Join me in congratulating Frank and the wonderful nurses at the hospital who witnessed his compassion with patients and families and encouraged him to follow his dream.

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Next Issue of the NLN Member Update: Wednesday, June 26, 2019. View previous issues of NLN Member Update »