School of Nursing enjoys successful year
Janel Shoun-Smith |
One-on-one mentoring this past year served personal and career development needs for students.
Changes including new technology and mentoring move program forward
During the 2015-2016 academic year, the School of Nursing added another level of academic rigor to its program which has resulted in an improved first-time pass rate on the NCLEX. At this writing, the first-time pass rate stands at 98 percent for those who graduated in May.
New elements added to the program during this past year include expanded simulation lab hours, new teaching technology, increased accountability with raised skills performance check-offs, a new NCLEX review course and a faculty mentorship program for every junior and senior student.
“The success of these May graduates in passing the NCLEX the first time is a significant accomplishment. I know it will provide inspiration for each class that follows,” said Roger Davis, Dean of the College of Pharmacy & Health Sciences, which houses the School of Nursing.
“More importantly, I believe it is recognition of the quality of our program including faculty, staff, students and the intensity of the curriculum. Enormous strides have been achieved the past year because of the dedication of our faculty, the care extended by the staff, the perseverance of our student nurses and the enhancement of our curriculum. The first time pass rate of this class makes an enormous statement about the quality of Lipscomb School of Nursing,” Davis said.
At the school’s 2016 review by the Tennessee Board of Nursing in August, state officials were pleased with enhancements such as:
Increased requirements for practice simulation hours and expanded health simulation laboratory
hours to help students achieve;
A new elective course on care for the aging population;
A new mental health specialist hired as faculty;
New training technology such as Laerdal IV Arms and Nasco Chester Chests in the simulation lab; and
Increased emphasis on quality clinical experiences.
Two years ago, the NCLEX revised its questions to reflect various learning styles, so nursing students today must be adept at answering questions in various formats including those involving picture recognition, select-all-that-apply questions and short video clips, said Interim Associate Dean Mary Hesselrode.
The recent curriculum changes were designed to expose students to different types of thinking they may use in their careers and to help them be able to think outside their own learning style when taking the NCLEX.
“These changes improved students’ critical thinking,” Hesselrode said. “More opportunity to practice skills combined with new teaching technology helped our student nurses better make the connections for critical thinking needed for the complex questions on the board exam.”
To boost students’ confidence in their clinical skills, the School of Nursing expanded the hours of operation for the health simulation laboratory this past year, allowing students to take advantage of more supervised practice later in the evening and on weekends. The new IV Arms and Chester Chest technology also helped students expand their skills, Hesselrode said.
The IV Arms allow students to simulate a blood draw and practice successful insertion of an intravenous catheter. Chester Chest gives student nurses an inside view of the body to see the pathway through the chest of peripheral and jugular venous lines, she said.
The School of Nursing worked to address students personal, career and spiritual development needs as well as their technical skill requirements by implementing the mentorship program, which required each full-time faculty to mentor groups of 12-16 juniors and seniors.
Each mentor was required to reach out to their student mentees a minimum of twice a semester, but many did much more than that, providing academic and career development advice in one-on-one meetings, hosting social gatherings for the entire mentee group on campus or even in the mentor’s home, sending encouraging notes or hosting devotionals, said Kara Price, adjunct professor of nursing and the lead coordinator for the mentor program.
“With so many enhancements this year, the mentor program provided a more constructive way for the faculty to provide personal support to each student nurse,” Price said. “Mentors served as an accountability factor for the students, and some students used their faculty mentor as an advocate for their needs during this milestone year.”
“It was comforting to know that I was being guided by a professional who wanted to see me flourish,” said Victor Sandoval (’16). “My mentor’s willingness to give me feedback all while working with my schedule proved to be beneficial. Most importantly, I felt encouraged to have someone empower me to succeed and be the best nurse that I could be.”
In fact, one group of junior student nurses felt that the faculty mentoring program was so valuable that they proposed beginning a peer-to-peer mentoring program where senior student nurses will provide mentoring to junior nurses, said Freda Fuller, assistant professor of nursing who served as a mentor this past year. The school is implementing the peer-to-peer program this year with voluntary participation, said Price.
“Several of the senior students who went through mentoring this past year feel like they can be very helpful to junior mentees in areas of time management, study habits or general advice on what to expect in the junior year, which includes more clinicals and NCLEX preparation,” said Fuller. “Sometimes students respond to other students better than faculty. When someone who just came through a challenge sits down and says, ‘Let me show you what worked for me,’ that can be even more impactful than a professional’s advice.”
To address academic needs, the School of Nursing chose to provide two NCLEX review programs for seniors, at no additional cost to the students. The Hurst Review was added to the annual Kaplan review course and both were required in the senior capstone class.
The Hurst Review is a three-day review course that presents content in the various learning styles reflected on the NCLEX, and students reported that it was very beneficial to their studies, Hesselrode said.
“We couldn’t be prouder of all our students’ achievements this year,” Hesselrode said. “There has been a lot of change, but the students have all worked hard to meet new challenges, which has resulted in a significant pass rate for the School of Nursing.”