Faculty Presentations Faculty Presentations: Michelle Glowny

Virtual Simulations to Enhance Practice Readiness in Precision Health for Online Nurse Practitioner Students

Full list of poster authors

• Jennifer Viveiros, PhD, RN, CNE, CHSE
• Michelle Glowny, PhD, RN, CNE

Conference where poster was previously displayed

St. Anselm’s Annual Nurse Educator Conference 2024

Poster abstract

Virtual Simulations to Improve Practice Readiness in Precision Health for Online Nurse Practitioner Students

Jennifer Viveiros, PhD, RN, CNE, CHSE, Michelle Glowny, PhD, RN, CNE
College of Nursing and Health Sciences, UMass Dartmouth

Background

Preparing nurse practitioners to practice in the evolving landscape of Precision Health is essential. A strong foundation in genomics concepts and associated ethical considerations is vital for nurse practitioners to join a practice-ready workforce prepared to meet advancements in genetic screening, pharmacogenomics, and genetic engineering technologies for gene therapy. Strategies to build the knowledge, skills and engagement in genomics are needed in nurse education programs 

Project activity

Our project implemented open-access, virtual simulation assignments for nurse practitioner students enrolled a genomics, ethics, and innovations course. Open access resources provide free, online scholarly material. The resource leveraged in this course is funded by the National Human Genome Research Institute, called Global Genetics and Genomics Community (G3C). G3C is a set of interactive unfolding case simulations which allow the student to make genetic-based care decisions in a more realistic practice environment. Regardless of the success in their simulated care case, students are asked to reflect on the experience in an online journal formatted as a process improvement cycle. 

Outcomes

Students completed three assigned case simulations. Average performance scores among the ten students improved by 15%. Perhaps more importantly, a review of the journals demonstrated three key elements. Students reported: • A sense of relevance to the content. One student stated, “I see why this is important and how I can use it in practice.” Another student said, “I hear this information on commercials all the time now, I’m glad I got to practice asking these kinds of questions with a virtual patient before I have to do it for real.” • A sense of excitement. One journal entry stated, “After Covid and the mRNA vaccine, I can totally tell this is where medicine is headed, and I’m thrilled to be learning about it.” A student practicing as an oncology nurse, shared, “I’m so happy to have a better understanding of this information. Providers use it all the time in our patient charts and now it is much more meaningful to me.” • A sense of valuing the cognitive challenge. A student wrote: “This was hard for me. I didn’t know what the right questions to ask were, but I’m glad I got a chance to try and figure out what I can do differently next time.” 

Recommendations

Incorporating advances in genetic and genomics in nursing education is critical. Precision Health and Personalized Medicine are key developments in the healthcare landscape that graduating nurses and nurse practitioners must be prepared to navigate. Implementing novel resources like G3C with well-established reflective nursing practice is a transformative force in preparing future healthcare practitioners.