The innovative strategy using poster presentations to teach students to apply ethical principles to and examine applicable health policy for health concerns is based on a constructivist pedagogy. Poster presentations have been found to be an effective method for delivering information in a relaxed format that is aesthetically pleasing and permits the dissemination of more information in less time. Networking skills are developed through the discussions that are stimulated by the poster content. Because the students are gathering the information and analyzing their findings specific to a topic they have selected, they are engaging in case-based/problem-based learning. Student groups are expected to expertly discuss their work with their peers, faculty, and guests during the poster session. The Code of Ethics for Nurses, PRISMA analysis documents, and a poster template are provided to the students to help them frame the healthcare issue.

Patient-centered Explorations in Active Reasoning, Learning, and Synthesis (PEARLS) is a modified instructional method blending characteristics of two classic teaching strategies—problem-based learning (PBL) and case-based learning—with other theory-based and evidence-supported best practices. Several PBL characteristics make it uniquely advantageous for contemporary health profession learners. From the metacognitive and affective dimensions, PBL promotes formation of clinical reasoning, critical thinking, self-assessment, and nontechnical skills (e.g., interpersonal and communication skills, situational awareness). The PEARLS case scenario is the central vehicle through which the learners receive cues informing and guiding their exploration. Substantial resource allocation is required for PEARLS implementation. The four major resource categories include educators, learners, learning environment, and curriculum. The most important limitations to successful PEARLS implementation, however, are curricular. PEARLS learners require sufficient self-directed time for independent research, assimilation, synthesis, and trigger development. Curricula must accommodate the significant workload and time expenditure to promote learner success.

Facilitating a nursing course concentrating on psychiatric behavioral health concepts presents challenges in the classroom setting. The challenge includes creating a learning environment for visual learners. Clinical settings have provided a visual learning environment in most nursing programs. Bringing artwork and photographs to represent psychological behaviors is a new method to meet this challenge. The use of photographs can enhance learning core elements of nursing, specifically the lived experiences of human beings. Nursing students can use photographs to learn assessment skills and realize that their clients are more than the results of diagnostic tests. Upon successful implementation of this teaching strategy, the learner will be able to interpret components of artwork and photographs that project general appearances, attitudes, affects, and behaviors seen in psychiatric disorders and to distinguish symptoms that patients diagnosed with psychiatric disorders experience internally that the learner cannot observe in the artwork and photographs.

Communication in healthcare differs from daily discourse. Tightly kept secrets, devastating prognoses, and hopes and fears are addressed in the service of bringing solace to individuals and families. Effective communications are the critical element upon which accurate diagnoses and culturally relevant treatment plans are constructed. Effective communication facilitates disease prevention, health promotion, and redemption for those facing life-threatening conditions. Of utmost importance when working with vulnerable youth and families, effective communication is a vital skill that must be taught to healthcare providers. The use of feedback teaching and learning for the enhancement of communications among vulnerable youth and their families does not have a substantial body of evidence in the scientific literature. Feedback teaching and learning begins with informed nurses and other health professionals. The primary objective of this teaching strategy is the enhancement of patient- and family-centered communications with vulnerable youth and their families.

Simulation as a teaching strategy was an effective approach to improve teamwork, active learning, problem-solving, satisfaction level, and self-confidence during disaster nursing training. Nurse educators should provide disaster training programs for nursing undergraduates to prepare them for an active role in disaster response. The teaching strategy described in this chapter involves using case scenario and tabletop exercise in teaching field triage in disaster nursing. The case scenario is a “fictional” emergency or disaster management situation, which can be based on actual or potential events. The tabletop exercise is an educational tool intended to provide students/learners an opportunity to apply knowledge about preparedness and potential disaster situations through formal discussion of the described scenario. The use of case scenario and tabletop exercise allows students to practice their skills in doing the task, such as field triage, without compromising the emergency or disaster situation.

This chapter focuses on a teaching strategy that aims to assist students in understanding the role of advocacy in influencing and promoting health and in developing competencies as community leaders and advocates in leading social transformations. According to the American Nurses Association, nurses play significant roles in the prevention of illness and injury and promotion of patient health. In addition, nurses are expected to collaborate with other members of the healthcare team and demonstrate “advocacy in the care of individuals, families, communities, and populations.” In the implementation of this teaching strategy, there are myriad options to consider; however, it requires the commitment, inspiration, and passion of educators to push for this innovative strategy. The role of nurses in advocating health and influencing policy is a crucial role that every nurse must be willing to undertake.

There is a growing body of knowledge that active learning and small-group pedagogical strategies enhance student critical thinking skills and achievement in undergraduate health science and nursing programs. According to Kalaian and Kasim, in a meta-analysis of active learning compared to the traditional lecture-based classroom environment, small-group learning environments, including a collaborative learning strategy, were significantly more effective in program outcomes for nursing students. Students who formed their own groups and limited their group size to four members also had a more positive impact on nursing student achievement and promoting academic success than those who received lecture-based instruction. This teaching strategy helps the reader to create and submit a collaborative response to critical thinking questions based on a case study. It also helps the reader to create a team identity, describe their learning experience, and share their reflection of the learning.

Educating the Advanced Practice Registered Nurse (APRN) has become more challenging and requires additional expertise on the part of the educator, especially as clinical settings have become more complex and clinical sites more limited. Simulation has the ability to evaluate APRN competency, clinical reasoning, and multifocal learning domains by utilizing validated tools in a controlled environment, thus increasing the reliability of the evaluation. This strategy of developing simulation experiences for the APRN uses the A to Z Clinical Simulation Template for the Advanced Practice Registered Nurse, which is designed to support the training and evaluation of APRN students, novice nurse practitioners (NPs), and APRNs transitioning to new fields. The objective of this teaching strategy is to develop engaging simulated experiences for the APRN utilizing a standardized template to promote evidence-based practice and meet the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) accreditation and APRN certification criteria.

The Institute of Medicine report on The Future of Nursing calls for higher levels of education and competencies to deliver high-quality care to meet the demands of complex patient needs and the healthcare digital environment. The report recognizes that nurses’ expanding roles require mastery with technological tools and information management systems as well as competencies in systems thinking and systems improvement. Human-centered design thinking traditionally has been used in industrial studies to create products or to improve a process or service. This methodology, if applied in healthcare, can solve care delivery problems such as patient throughput, educate staff members on systems thinking, and improve the patient experience as seen in smart room designs. Using design thinking and human-centered design as frameworks, students will be able to conduct a user-centered problem identification process, perform workflow analysis, create specification requirements, and submit a prototype design.