INFORM: Impact of 21st Century on Nursing Education

Through our Institute for Nursing Faculty Recruitment, Retention and Mentoring or INFORM at USF Nursing, the College will continue to recruit, retain and mentor the best and brightest nursing faculty. USF nursing faculty transform nursing science to better care for patients through education and research. The need for new nursing faculty is now at an alltime high and expected to increase over the next decade.

According to a 2010 report form the Jonas Center for Nursing Excellence, the baccalaureate nurses trained by one faculty member collectively touch the lives of 3.6 million patients annually over the course of a 30-year career! Statistics like this emphasize the danger inherent in a national nursing faculty shortage, and why programs like INFORM at USF Nursing are critical to our mission. ThroughINFORM the USF Nursing faculty receive mentorship through activities to hone instructional excellence and support to embrace the technology that makes today’s education possible.

We have implemented initiatives through INFORM at USF Nursing that are designed to develop different aspects of educational practice. Evidence- Based Educational Strategies Seminars began in October 2012, exploring the research evidence related to teaching and learning-like the basis for teaching medication dosage calculation including learning about cognitive styles in mathematics. Instruction Strategies Seminar Series began in September 2012, which focuses on practical strategies that faculty can use in a variety of settings to support student learning such as Brain Learning Principles from applied cognitive sciences.

The USF College of Nursing faculty have been ground-breakers in web based instruction at USF for more than a decade! Today, under the great leadership of Oma Singh, PhD, Associate Director of Educational Design & Technology (EDT), USF Nursing faculty members have access to a support team of experts in instructional design and media technology.

The EDT team collaborates with the USF Nursing faculty to develop online courses using the latest technology including video and audio. According to Singh, they have established a course development process that enables them to develop quality online course within a semester.  For example, within the past  two semesters over 10 online courses were developed that included 93 online presentations with engaging interactions, and over 12 instructor intro videos. The EDT also conducted 16 workshops, and held more than 32 Blackboard Open Help Sessions.

“With the clear vision and strong support of Dean Dianne Morrison-Beedy and Associate Dean, Dr. Rita D’Aoust, the Educational Design and Technology team has a critical role at the College of Nursing,” Singh said. “Overall, working with the EDT team, our faculty have avenues to learn current and innovative technology to supplement teaching and learning in all their courses (traditional or online).”

Recently, USF moved forward with a new Learning Management System (LMS) called Canvas which will replace Blackboard in Summer 2013. To ease the transition to this new system, the EDT is offering Canvas Open Help Sessions and has made available a Steps to Success in Canvas series for faculty to enable them to learn Canvas effectively and efficiently. EDT is  also working on hosting a Canvas training webinar  and developing an online Canvas orientation course for students and faculty.

“In the arena of online courses, the USF College of Nursing is continuing its phenomenal growth in its recognition of providing outstanding online courses of the highest quality,” Singh said. “We want our USF Nursing courses to be the ones that other colleges use as their ‘gold standard’ example of online courses. I think success for the EDT team is when we hear the excitement in our faculty who are proud of the courses they helped to create and when we hear our students get excited about learning.”

When you combine the knowledge of USF’s world class nursing faculty with the talent and expertise of the EDT team you can’t help but succeed! Their work does not stop there. The EDT team is already planning on developing 15 on-line courses in 2013.

This story was originally published in the January issue of the Nursing on the Move Magazine. To read the article there click here.