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rowing challenges exist in health care related to the increasing needs of the US aging population, requiring greater complexity of medical care. According to the US Census Bureau, 1 40.3 million residents were 65 years or older in 2010. By July 1, 2019, this population had grown to more than 54 million. Meanwhile, an increasing number of Americans report having one or more chronic diseases. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report that chronic diseases were 7 of the top 10 causes of death. 2 Health care reform, the Affordable Care Act, and changes in reimbursement models from the standard fee for service to value-based contracting have emphasized a significant change in care delivery models that opened the door for utilization of registered nurses (RNs) within primary care. Despite this need, only 9.7% of RNs are employed in ambulatory care settings. 3 Health care settings need to find a way to successfully integrate new RN graduates directly into primary care practices while nurse educators need to design and implement curricular content that increases competencies in primary care and readiness for practice in settings outside of acute care.The changing health care environment dictates a workforce competently trained to address chronic health care issues. Educational experiences prepare RNs to lead teams that manage patient care. Educating patients, providing the support necessary to promote healthy behavioral changes, and using protocols developed by advanced providers can enable RNs to manage care effectively for patients in primary care settings. Although there is evidence that supports RNs leading teams to manage chronic conditions and improve patient outcomes, there are barriers such as insurance reimbursement for RN services and inconsistent nursing state board regulations that can prevent nurses from practicing at the full scope of their license. 4 Also noted is the lack of preparation of students in prelicensure programs for primary care practice. 5,6 Nurse educators face

This study investigated whether or not the storytelling strategy could be used to increase student engagement and learning among non-STEM/STEAM majors participating in STEM/STEAM courses required by their programs of study. Specifically, it examined whether or not using storytelling to teach health science content to Early Childhood Development and Elementary Education students contributed to higher levels of student engagement, retention of content knowledge, self-reported preparedness to teach the content as future teachers, and ratings of teacher effectiveness. This study employed a QUAN-qual design. A true experimental design was used for the quantitative portion of the study while semi-structured group interviews were used in the qualitative portion. Forty-seven participants were randomly assigned to the storytelling group or the control group. Ten participated in the semi-structured group interviews. Repeated Measures ANOVA was used to examine difference over time between the treatment and control groups. Dependent sample t-test comparisons were used to examine differences in means at different time points within the treatment group. Qualitative data was analyzed using Hatch's Interpretive Analysis. Findings provided evidence that storytelling is an effective teaching strategy when teaching STEM/STEAM content to non-STEM/STEAM majors. Repeated Measures ANOVA provided strong evidence that the treatment group had higher levels of perceived student engagement, content knowledge, and perceptions of teacher interest and engagement in teaching. Dependent samples t-tests suggested these differences persisted two weeks after exposure to the storytelling strategy. The themes identified during qualitative data analysis supported the quantitative results and indicated that students participating in the treatment condition had high levels of student engagement, believed they retained content knowledge at a higher level, and perceived the instructor as more effective. Dedication I dedicate this work to my late husband Ron Weaver who was more proud of my accomplishments than I and who loved the fact that I loved stories so much. He was my biggest fan and my strongest motivator. iii Table of Contents List of Figures .