Building a supportive clinical learning environment: Orienting newly licensed nurses to their impact on the professional development of physician trainees.

What was the educational challenge?: Nurses play an essential role in the professional development of physician trainees within the clinical learning environment (CLE), but rarely receive formal training regarding this role.

What was the solution?: Utilizing a multifaceted, systematic approach, we developed an educational program for newly licensed nurses which addressed their role in the CLE and the professional development of physician trainees.

How was the solution implemented?: We delivered two 90-minute workshops to approximately 40 nurses during the 2021-2022 academic year. Participants completed workshop session evaluations and the Clinical Learning Environment Quick Survey (CLEQS). Data were descriptively analyzed. Workshops were positively received, with most participants rating them as very good/excellent (Workshop #1: 83.3% and Workshop #2: 72.2%). The CLEQS results suggested that the participants' CLEs were predominantly healthy and supportive, with most respondents indicating that they would recommend their unit to colleagues (before Workshop #1: 92.2% and after Workshop #2: 100.0%).

What lessons were learned that are relevant to a wider global audience?: Our educational program acknowledges the important role nurses play in the professional development of physician trainees, and equips them with tools to promote teamwork, communication, and a growth mindset towards interactions with physician trainees.

What are the next steps?: We continue to iterate our interactive workshops to prepare nurses for their important role in the professional development of physician trainees. To employ more active learning strategies, we developed pre-workshop videos. Thus far, we have delivered these workshops to nearly 600 nurses.