AbstractFor many years, an area of research in higher education has been emerging around the development and implementation of fair and effective peer evaluation programs. Recently, a new body of knowledge has developed regarding the development and implementation of fair and effective peer evaluation programs resulting in formative and summative evaluations. The purpose of this article is to describe the development, implementation, and evaluation of a peer review of teaching (PRoT) program for nursing faculty, initiated at one small comprehensive university in the northeastern United States. Pairs of nursing faculty evaluated each other’s teaching, syllabi, and course materials after collaborating in a pre-evaluation conference to discuss goals of the classroom visit. Qualitative data gathered in post project focus groups revealed that faculty found their modified PRoT process to be a mutually beneficial experience that was more useful, flexible and collegial, and less stressful than their previous evaluation process.

No abstract

No abstract

Background and Purpose: Nurse practitioners (NPs) are expected to fill gaps in providing primary care in the United States and need vital skills to meet the growing need for primary care providers. One necessary skill is managing “on-call” clinical questions/concerns by patients across the life span. To date, there are no published studies that address “on-call” simulations for family NP (FNP) students across the life span. Methods: This quasi-experimental, mixed-methods design used a confidence scale and Krippendorff's method for content analysis of discussion pages to determine the effectiveness and confidence of simulated “on-call” scenarios for FNP students during each of their clinical courses. Conclusions: There was a significant increase in the confidence level of students as measured by the confidence questionnaire (t = 3.07 [33]; p < .001), at the end of the FNP didactic and clinical courses. Krippendorff content analysis revealed three themes: self-reliance; thinking on your feet; and uncertainty of management. Implications for Practice: “On-call” processing is a skill that is needed in graduate FNP programs so that these providers are fully prepared to meet any challenge they may encounter.

Implementation of advanced directives in patients' medical care will need to be encouraged in the event of illness. Advanced practice nurses can provide clear explanations of patients' treatment choices in outpatient and inpatient settings.