The Idea Bank
Practical resources for nurse educators that encourage implementing active learning, experimentation, and thoughtful productivity.
Three Activities to Practice Retrieval for Nurse Educators
Retrieval practice is an essential skill in learning. 🗞️ It involves reconstructing information that you learned in the past and bringing it into the present moment. For nursing students, this is an essential skill to bridge the academic-practice gap and allow them to apply what they learn in theory to clinical situations.
Advanced Learning Stations - A “Moving Case Study” as a Tool for Nurse Educators
👟 An advanced technique for using stations in a sequential order as part of a case study.
Learning Stations - Ideas for Nurse Educators in an Active Learning Classroom
Get started using stations as an embodied education practice. 🤸🏾♀️🤸🏾♀️
Energize your Classroom: Three Simple Active Learning Techniques for Nursing Instructors
How embodied education can be used as an active learning tool 👁️
3 Lesson Learned from a Planning a Summit for Nurse Educators
What I learned in the process of a big project
Orchestrating Orientation Day: Two Active Learning Tactics for Nursing Instructors to use at Clinical Orientation
While getting to know the clinical paperwork and doing a walk-through of the unit are important, this article has fresh ideas to invigorate the orientation day.
Unlocking the Feynman Technique as an Active Learning Tool
A study technique developed by a world-renowned physicist who was a keen observer of how humans learned. The Feynman Technique can be used in class or taught to students as an active learning study tool.
The Feedback Sandwich: A Positive Approach to Giving Feedback in Nursing Education
Feedback is an essential tool for the growth and development of new nurses. However, giving feedback can be challenging, especially if it is negative or critical. Using the Feedback Sandwich can benefit both instructors and students.
How to Build an Active Learning Classroom
A step-by-step guide to starting or refining an active learning classroom. It does not have to be a complete overhaul, just one activity at a time! 🌟
An Incident Report Activity that Helps Students Learn about Failure
A mock incident report can be an excellent way to expose students to failure and successfully navigate a mistake.
Using Surveys to Become a Life-Changing Nurse Educator
Reading student feedback at the end of an exhausting semester brings up a range of emotions - dread, relief, anger, surprise, or even gratitude. But collecting regular feedback from students is an excellent way to improve your teaching and help students in your class feel safe and heard.
Building a Project Plan as a Nurse Educator
Having a project plan as a nurse educator can save you time, energy, and mental bandwidth. Using a Notion template, I can help you build a project plan for the courses you teach. 📝
How to Implement Active Note Taking for Nursing Students
When implementing an active classroom, there are still times when a lecture is needed. Keeping these sections short, about 10-20 minutes, and adding Active Note Taking 📝 can engage students with the content and create an active learning nursing classroom even when using a slide deck.
Transform an Existing Case Study into a Nursing Prioritization Scenario
The Popsicle Stick Prioritization 🍡 activity is excellent for individuals or small groups and allows students to "vote" on their highest priority. And it can be a simple add-on to any case study you already use in class, so it is minimal work to implement.
An Active Learning Syllabus Adds the Thrill of Discovery to the First Day of Class
Infuse the first day of your course with an active learning syllabus review in the form of a syllabus scavenger hunt. 🔎
An Exam Wrapper Uses Reflection to Improve Nursing Exam Scores
Using an Exam Wrapper in the time immediately following an exam is ideal for reflection and improving nursing student exam scores. 📝
Fishbone Analysis Uses Backward Thinking in a Nursing Flipped Classroom
Nurse educators are challenged with connecting knowledge to practice. The Fishbone Analysis is an awesome clinical judgment activity. 🐟
The Six Thinking Hats Explores the Top of Bloom’s Pyramid
To teach nursing clinical judgment, we should explore the highest levels of Bloom's taxonomy in our classrooms. But what activities can we use to have students "create?" 🎨
How to Use a Patient Blog to Teach Empathy in a Nursing Flipped Classroom
When patients share their healthcare journey online, they provide rich opportunities for learning about the emotional, spiritual and psychosocial complications of a disease. 📝 The worksheet Using a Patient Blog gives nursing instructors and students the framework to learn from their experiences.
Guidelines for Group Work in a Nursing Active Learning Classroom
These guidelines for group work 👨👩👦👦 will help you get started or fine-tune your nursing flipped classroom.