Faculty, Staff Produce Article on Virtual Learning Environment Experiences

Danett Cantey, clinical nurse educator, Malissa Sampson, clinical nurse educator, Jacqueline Vaughn, PhD'20, and Nicole Petsas Blodgett, director of the Center for Nursing Discovery, wrote "Skills, community, and rapport: Prelicensure nursing students in the virtual learning environment" in "Teaching and Learning in Nursing."

Abstract

Introduction

The coronavirus-19 (COVID-19) pandemic forced changes in program delivery across nursing education. This article describes the innovative virtual lab sessions designed and implemented for Foundations and Pediatrics courses in an Accelerated Baccalaureate Science in Nursing program. The objectives of this quality improvement project were to (1) ascertain student perceptions of learning in virtual lab environment (2) identify benefits and barriers to planning and implementing virtual learning experiences, and (3) explore student attitudes and perceptions regarding group dynamics and the sense of community provided by virtual lab sessions.

Methods

A cross-sectional approach was employed with two cohorts (Cohort 1, n = 71; Cohort 2, n = 86). Students completed a survey and responded to open-ended questions regarding their virtual clinical lab experiences.

Results

The four themes of small group dynamics, resource availability, hands-on activities, and sense of community emerged as the characteristics students liked most about virtual lab sessions with 95% of students reporting the virtual lab sessions were engaging. Overall student survey responses were favorable to the virtual labs.

Discussion

This project demonstrates that nursing educators were able to design and implement innovative teaching and learning strategies in a virtual environment to promote knowledge, skills, and attitudes while nurturing a sense of community.