When the COVID-19 pandemic forced university campuses and healthcare agencies to temporarily suspend both undergraduate and graduate direct care educational experiences, nursing programs had to formulate alternative plans to facilitate clinical learning. Texas Woman's University used this opportunity to assemble a faculty group tasked with creating a set of college-wide guidelines for virtual simulation use as a substitution for traditional face-to-face clinical. The process included completing a needs assessment of both undergraduate and graduate level programs across three campuses and identifying regulatory requirements and limitations for clinical experiences. The task force utilized the information gathered to develop evidence-based recommendations for simulation hour equivalence ratios and compiled a list of virtual activities and products faculty could use to complete clinical experiences. Undergraduate and graduate student surveys were conducted to determine the effectiveness of the transition to virtual clinical experiences. Overall, the majority of survey results were positive regarding virtual simulation experiences providing students with valuable opportunities to enhance their learning. Negative comments regarding the impact of COVID-19 on a personal level included issues involving internet access and web conferencing logistics, lack of motivation to study, family difficulties, and faculty inexperience teaching in an online environment. Undergraduate pre-licensure students were provided with opportunities to successfully complete all remaining required clinical hours virtually, while graduate students were allowed to complete non-direct care hours as applicable using virtual clinical experiences.

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Facilitating effective clinical learning for pediatric nursing students is becoming increasingly challenging and limited in opportunities. Hospital leaders are concerned about the critical thinking and prioritization skills of new graduates and believe that inpatient clinical experiences are the only way to develop these skills. This study sought to compare the effectiveness of three different clinical teaching schedules in preparing nursing students to care for children and their families. Teaching methodology was randomly assigned to various amount of times in acute care inpatient settings. Student knowledge, clinical decision making, and student satisfaction and perception of learning were measured. No statistically significant differences among groups for either knowledge scores or clinical reasoning scores were noted. Student satisfaction results did not reveal differences among groups. Study findings will help educators to better plan clinical experiences and more effectively utilize an array of settings to optimize the clinical learning of pediatric nursing content.

Australia’s New South Wales Education Facilities Research Group, a joint initiative between the Department of Education and Training and the Department of Public Works and Services, provides action research into issues which impact on school design. These issues include curriculum development, changes in teaching strategies and new directions in school management and organisation. The research group has a programme of work which includes the development of guidelines and training manuals for teachers, parents and students as well as architects, engineers, planners and administrators. Four examples of recent projects are outlined below.environment, Australia, energy management, community