Improving clinical teaching in nursing homes

The majority of nursing students have no intention to seek employment in a nursing home after they complete their nursing education. Most of them haven’t thought of the nursing home setting as an employment option. Yet, there is a large demand for registered nurses in nursing homes with new nursing home federal RN staffing requirements. Professor Christine Mueller, PhD, RN, FGSA, FAAN , believes that when students have opportunities to work with faculty who have enthusiasm and genuine knowledge about the nursing home setting and they are provided with engaging learning experiences, it can go a long way to pique their interest for their future practice.

Mueller developed an interactive web-based resource to guide nursing faculty in creating exemplary clinical experiences for students in nursing homes. With funding from the Health Services Resources Administration, this unique and innovative resource on clinical teaching in nursing homes is organized around the four required ingredients to create a positive and robust clinical experience for students. Because most faculty have not had any experience in a nursing home, the resource first provides faculty with a deep understanding of the nursing home environment, roles of staff in the nursing home, and the needs of the residents so they can create and facilitate a positive learning experience for students. Second, it guides faculty in how to select a nursing home that provides high quality care, has a resident-directed philosophy, and has sufficient RN staffing. The third key ingredient is establishing an academic-practice partnership between the school of nursing and the nursing home so that nursing home staff and faculty can co-create positive clinical experiences. The final ingredient is a web-based resource that provides a plethora of meaningful and stimulating learning activities for students while they are in the nursing home setting. The activities emphasize the application of evidence-based gerontological assessments and interventions, the roles of the RN, and leadership and management experiences. There is also a tool to evaluate students’ attitudes towards older adults, their confidence in caring for older adults, and their career intentions about working with older adults.

The web-based resource is available at no cost to nursing faculty in schools across the country and the globe. It can be accessed through the Minnesota Northstar Geriatrics Workforce Enhancement Program (GWEP) website at mngwep.umn.edu.