Opportunities from Covid-19 Pandemic: Strategies to Transform On-Site to Remote Community Clinical Experience

Abstract

Abstract: The Covid-19 pandemic continues to affect lives. This evidence-based strategy describes pathways to address the crisis and meet goals of undergraduate baccalaureate nursing education. Impact of the pandemic on clinical site availability provided opportunities to revise the maternity clinical course from direct on-site clinical to a clinical course with multiple modalities including small-group hospital clinical, faculty-facilitated remote clinical days, and written assignments. The design incorporated adult learning principles. This presentation illustrates transformation of the “Community Clinical Education Day” from on-site activities to remote virtual experiences. Teaching strategies that successfully fulfilled requirements of maternity clinical course, components of the eight-hour offering, and effectiveness of a multimodal clinical course compared to a traditional clinical course are described. Objectives: To identify mission, services, and population of community agencies and to develop education offerings for target population Format: Live remote faculty presentation on community-based health promotion; assessment, values, and beliefs; social and health-related issues affecting women; cultural competence in healthcare; and health literacy.  Students independently review agency websites, and in small groups develop client education materials on assigned topics. Students reconvene remotely to present teaching projects. Implications: Changes from traditional methods of on-site community clinical education to remote model with multiple modalities of instruction reflect adult learning principles, enhance student engagement, and provide templates for educators. Evaluations of remote community clinical demonstrate completion of course objectives and positive student and faculty perceptions of the experience. The effectiveness of a remote multimodal course compared to traditional course provides a model for adaptation of clinical courses.