As we continue our mission to support and enhance the nursing profession, we want to hear from you—our community of dedicated nurses and educators—about the challenges you're facing in nursing education today.
From technological advancements to increased demands on students and faculty, nursing education has never been more complex. As part of our commitment to help you address these challenges, we ask for your input on what you feel is the biggest hurdle in the field today.
We’ve identified three critical challenges. We would love your feedback to help guide initiatives for the new year.
1. Inappropriate Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Nursing Education
Artificial Intelligence is rapidly becoming a tool used in various aspects of healthcare, including nursing education. However, the integration of AI poses questions and concerns regarding its proper use and potential misapplication. Whether it's the over-reliance on AI to assist with academic assignments or clinical decision-making, there is a delicate balance between leveraging AI to enhance learning and ensuring it does not replace the vital human touch and critical thinking skills that nursing education emphasizes.
This post in our Teachers Transforming Nursing Education Facebook Group highlights concerns with the use of AI and strategies for more appropriate use.
2. Lack of Student Engagement
Student engagement in nursing programs has long been a struggle, and it has only been exacerbated by the challenges brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic and the shift to hybrid or online learning models. Engagement in nursing education is critical for developing competent, compassionate, and critical-thinking nurses.
A recent post in our Teachers Transforming Nursing Education Facebook Group highlights the struggles of keeping students engaged in the clinical setting, not just the classroom. KeithRN’s Think Like A Nurse Membership includes many tools for use in the clinical setting during downtime. They include Alternative Clinical Assignment to Develop Clinical Reasoning, Create A Case
Study, Lab Planning, Determining Acceptable Vital Sign Variation, and others.
3. Mental Health Struggles Among Nursing Students (Stress, Anxiety, and Depression)
The mental health of nursing students is an issue that has gained increasing attention in recent years. Nursing students face a unique set of pressures that contribute to stress, anxiety, and depression—long hours, intense coursework, and the emotional toll of clinical experiences. On top of this, the pandemic has further exacerbated these mental health challenges, leaving many students overwhelmed and at risk of burnout.
Your Feedback Matters: Let’s Start the Conversation
Each of these issues represents a critical area of concern that affects not only the well-being of our future nurses but also the quality of care that patients receive. By sharing your thoughts and experiences with us, you can help us better understand the challenges nurse educators and students face today. Your feedback will inform how we move forward in developing resources and strategies that make a meaningful impact on nursing education.
We’d love to hear your thoughts on the following:
Which of these challenges do you think is the most pressing in your own nursing education environment?
Are there other challenges not mentioned here that you feel are important to address?
What solutions or initiatives have you implemented or would like to see implemented to overcome these challenges?
Please share your responses with us by completing our short survey. Together, we can identify the most pressing issues in nursing education and work toward solutions that help us overcome them.
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