The shortage of academic nurse educators has many baccalaureate programs recruiting master's-prepared clinical experts to fill faculty vacancies. A work-role transition occurs when entering a new community of practice. Naturalistic inquiry guided this study involving 18 nurse practitioners and clinical nurse specialists in their first or second year of full-time teaching in a baccalaureate program. Analysis of data from semistructured interviews with participants resulted in six patterns. These patterns are depicted in the metaphor of a mermaid entering a "sea of academia." Patterns included sitting on the shore, splashing in the shallows, drowning, treading water, beginning strokes, and throughout the waters. Findings present insight into the holistic experience of the work-role transition, viewing it from psychological, sociological, and cognitive perspectives. Nurse educators and nursing education administrators can use this information in designing effective orientation programs to facilitate healthy transition.

Engaging students in active techniques that promote learning and socialization in nursing may be achieved using Voki technology. The authors discuss a project, and its outcomes, that used avatar-assisted case studies. Instructors looking for a new teaching technology that can be integrated into case studies are encouraged to explore this venue as an active learning technology.

The author relates the findings of a qualitative study of the work-role transition of a clinical expert to novice nurse educator in a baccalaureate program. The information is presented in the form of a metaphor to provide a figurative way of reading research that can serve to stimulate thinking about the phenomenon while using storytelling to pique interest.

High-fidelity simulation is commonplace in nursing education. However, critical thinking, decision making, and psychomotor skills scenarios are emphasized. Scenarios involving communication occur in interprofessional or intraprofessional settings. The importance of effective nurse-patient communication is reflected in statements from the American Nurses Association and Quality and Safety Education for Nurses, and in the graduate outcomes of most nursing programs. This qualitative study examined the patterns of communication observed in video recordings of a medical-surgical scenario with 71 senior students in a baccalaureate program. Thematic analysis revealed patterns of (a) focusing on tasks, (b) communicating-in-action, and (c) being therapeutic. Additional categories under the patterns included missing opportunities, viewing the "small picture," relying on informing, speaking in "medical tongues," offering choices…okay?, feeling uncomfortable, and using therapeutic techniques. The findings suggest the importance of using high-fidelity simulation to develop expertise in communication. In addition, the findings reinforce the recommendation to prioritize communication aspects of scenarios and debriefing for all simulations.