"Innovative Teaching Methodologies to Improve Nurse Practitioner Students’ Competencies."

Abstract: The education and training of Family Nurse Practitioner students is very rigorous. It encompasses competencies such as knowledge, psychomotor skills and attitude. Students acquire these competencies in the classroom and the clinical setting under supervision of the preceptors. Clinical settings with high quality preceptors who have time to train are difficult to come by and there is high competition for these sites and preceptors. To facilitate learning of the competencies in a supportive and safe setting we employed supplemental innovative teaching methods and found that simulation using nursing faculty as standardized patients is feasible and cost effective. Improvement in student confidence was comparable to simulation in which paid actors were used.