Marilyn H. Oermann, Thelma M. Ingles Professor of Nursing, wrote the editorial "COVID-19 Disruptions to Clinical Education: Nurse Educators Rise to the Challenges" for Nurse Educator. 

Excerpt

Rarely does a day go by without news about the devastating effects of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) on individuals and their families, and on our communities and systems. We have all experienced significant disruptions to nursing education, our academic institutions, and our health care systems. However, the pandemic has also validated my observations about the creativity and willingness of nurse educators to meet challenges, always keeping the student as central in their decisions.

With the inability to provide clinical practice for students, faculty outlined priorities for student learning and essential competencies to be achieved and moved quickly to virtual simulations, online simulations from vendors, and unfolding cases, among other methodologies. Some faculty produced video recordings to simulate clinical experiences specific to their course outcomes and combined these with small group discussions to promote clinical judgment. These decisions were not made lightly by faculty. One of the outcomes of shifting clinical practice to a virtual and online environment has been a clearer focus on the specific knowledge and competencies to be achieved versus how much time students spend in the clinical setting. The length of time students spend in clinical practice does not assure learning or development of essential competencies. Going forward, we need to decide what are critical competencies for students to develop through clinical practice and plan learning activities based on those competencies and individual student needs.

Citation

Oermann, M.H. (2021). COVID-19 disruptions to clinical education: Nurse educators rise to the challenges.Nurse Educator, 46(1), 1. doi: 10.1097/NNE.0000000000000947