Telehealth improves access to health care and has seen rapid expansion in recent years. Nurse practitioner (NP) students are expected to be able to use telehealth to provide health care on graduation; however, many programs of study do not include telehealth in the academic preparation of students. As a result, students feel unprepared to use telehealth to provide care to patients. To meet this need, a land-grant institution developed evidence-based competencies and curriculum to educate NP students in the area of telehealth. Curriculum included presentations, assignments, and simulation in the area of telehealth. Participants included 156 female and 15 male family nurse practitioner (FNP) students. Using a Likert scale from 1 (very unprepared) to 4 (very prepared), students indicated their knowledge and skill level for each telehealth competency area before and after the content delivery. Each competency demonstrated a significant increase in FNP student confidence and ability when comparing the pretest and posttest mean (p = .000). Outcomes of the project demonstrated the importance of including telehealth concepts into the curriculum for NP students to meet the needs and expectations of health care systems.

Background: Telehealth is becoming increasingly integral in providing improved access to care, especially for patients who reside in frontier and rural areas. Nurse practitioner (NP) faculty are charged with preparing NP students through curriculum and clinical experiences that align with the health care environment and the health care access needs of the populations they serve. Method: To meet this need, NP faculty at a land-grant university located in a frontier and rural midwestern state reinforced NP student telehealth curriculum and competency through application in a clinical environment. Results: Participants included 22 family NP (FNP) students and 19 clinical preceptors. According to the evaluations, the FNP students met seven of the eight competency criteria, and the preceptors met eight of the 13 evaluation criteria. Conclusion: Outcomes indicate telehealth curriculum competency can be reinforced through application in a clinical setting to prepare NP students to meet the needs of patients and changing health care environments. [ J Nurs Educ . 2020;59(7):413–417.]

Alcohol and substance-related disorders affect individuals throughout the global community. It is important that nurse practitioners understand the use of screening, brief intervention, and referral to treatment (SBIRT) in recognizing these disorders before development of chronic disease conditions. The SBIRT curriculum was adapted and integrated in a family nurse practitioner program. After completion of the curriculum in the didactic setting, students used what they learned in a clinical setting. Following the experience, students reflected on the encounters leading to increased awareness of personal feelings. Students were able to use their training in patient encounters and identified a variety of thoughts and feelings about working with patients who screened positive for overuse of alcohol or substances. The SBIRT is an important component of the education of nurse practitioners. It is through timely screening and intervention that conditions can be addressed early in substance use disorder. It is important for students to be aware of personal thoughts and feelings when working with this population.

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