Expanding primary care opportunities: simulation for clinical reasoning

Area of Science:

• Nursing Education
• Primary Care
• Nurse Practitioner Curricula

Background:

• Increasing requirement for primary care in nurse practitioner (NP) curricula.
• Challenge: Experienced faculty in specialties may lack primary care experience.
• Need to optimize resources amid a national nursing faculty shortage.

Purpose of the Study:

• To revise a primary care practicum to incorporate expert faculty collaboration.
• To enhance student clinical reasoning and assessment skills in primary care.
• To develop a cost-effective and efficient teaching model.

Main Methods:

• Nurse-midwifery faculty led a revised primary care clinical conference.
• Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP) faculty served as primary care experts.
• Low-fidelity simulation mimicked clinical visits for systematic assessment, planning, and charting practice.
• FNP experts critiqued student chart notes before grading.

Main Results:

• The revised clinical conference effectively guided students through clinical reasoning.
• Low-fidelity simulation facilitated systematic patient assessment, planning, and charting.
• FNP expert feedback improved student chart notes.
• The collaborative approach was well-received by students, faculty, and preceptors.

Conclusions:

• A collaborative primary care clinical conference model is feasible and effective.
• Leveraging existing faculty expertise (e.g., FNP) enhances NP education.
• This revised practicum is a quick, inexpensive, and well-received educational strategy.