Telehealth educational interventions in nurse practitioner education: An integrative literature review

Abstract

Background: Telehealth is a solution to combat multiple health care problems such as lack of access, provider shortages, increasing health care expenditures, and a growing number of people living with chronic conditions. Nurse practitioner students are not adequately educated in telehealth and may be unprepared to use it in their future careers. Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of telehealth educational interventions synthesizing current literature. Data sources: Using PubMed and Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature databases, a search was conducted in October 2019 for peer-reviewed articles in English using search terms “telemedicine,” telehealth,” “ehealth,” “mhealth,” and “mobile health,” along with “graduate nursing education” and “nursing education.” Conclusions: A total of 15 articles were included for review. Minimal nurse practitioner student education should include didactic content and student projects because of the ease of implementation. When telehealth didactic education is combined with experiential learning such as simulation and clinical experience, the benefit is greater. Implications for practice: The identified methods for increasing telehealth education should be implemented to prepare nurse practitioner students because telehealth continues to grow and become a vital part of American health care. Telehealth educational resources should be increased, as telehealth is only as useful as providers are prepared to use it.

Curriculum Interventions and Pedagogical Approaches for Virtual Care Delivery: A Scoping Review

“…General introduction to virtual care Basic theoretical and clinical aspects Waseh and Dicker, 9 Budakoğlu et al, 12 Hui et al 14 History, definitions, and terminology Budakoğlu et al, 12 Chike-Harris et al, 15 Edirippulige and Armfield, 16 Budakoğlu et al, 12 Hui et al, 14 Edirippulige and Armfield, 16 Gartz and O'Rourke, 18 Hilty et al 19 Professional, ethical, and legal aspects Waseh and Dicker, 9 Budakoğlu et al, 12 Hui et al, 14 Rutledge et al, 17 Hilty et al, 19 Echelard et al, 20 Saeed et al, 21 Stovel et al 22 Licensing, regulations, and reimbursement Waseh and Dicker, 9 Chike-Harris et al, 15 Rutledge et al, 17 Gartz and O'Rourke, 18 Saeed et al, 21 Stovel et al 22…”

“…Chike-Harris et al, 15 Edirippulige and Armfield, 16 Gartz and O'Rourke, 18 Hilty et al, 19 Henry et al, 7 Rutledge et al, 17 Hilty et al, 19 Echelard et al, 20 Saeed et al 21…”

Advancing Telehealth Competency in Physician Assistant Education: Stakeholder Perspectives and a Curricular Model for PA Programs

“…The overarching goal was to develop telehealth competency around knowledge, skills, and attitudes through learning experiences that were accessible, inclusive, and flexible. There were 2 long-term goals 1 : to have all students of Maryland PA programs graduate with a certificate in telehealth through both didactic and experiential training and 2 to use telehealth to alleviate the current shortage of clinical training sites and optimize clinical education. We adopted a continuous improvement process framework for our curricular design-making process.…”

“…Telehealth is an innovative approach that increases access, flexibility, safety, and efficiency within clinical practice and supervised clinical training experiences. 1,2 The 2021 Physician Assistant Education Association (PAEA) report on COVID-19 indicates that one-third of PA programs offer a telehealth curriculum in the didactic year of training, and an additional 37% plan to implement a telehealth curriculum. 3 In clinical practice, currently, about 20% of certified PAs participate in telemedicine delivery in their practice, with about 60% employed in practices or institutions that provide telemedicine services.…”

Rapid-cycle deliberate practice telehealth as an integrative learning strategy in nurse practitioner education

“…Telehealth is used increasingly as a delivery of care modality, and competency in the use of telehealth is an expectation of professional NP practice. Studies of education for NPs identified a lack of student preparedness and competence for telehealth (Gartz & O'Rourke, 2020). Most telehealth preparation for nurses occurs not during their academic training but during clinical orientation for jobs or during a nurse residency program (Rutledge & Gustin, 2021).…”