Nursing professional development (NPD) practitioners often face the dilemma of which task to tackle next. For example, an NPD practitioner may have a pile of "would love to teach, but it's not urgent" on their desk sitting next to a pile of "urgent and need to do now." An NPD team turned a challenge into an opportunity by tapping into the talent of bedside telemetry nurses for assistance with their "would love to teach" and important but not urgent topics.
Three clinical nurse educators (CNEs) examined educational needs on their units and identified topics that needed master's-prepared CNEs to disseminate and those that could be delegated to members of the education team. The seven-member Telemetry Education Nurse Team (TENT) included bachelor's-prepared nurses with a passion for education who previously became skilled in one-on-one and small group education. A mutually beneficial opportunity occurred for the CNEs to delegate some educational demands while promoting the professional development of the TENT nurses-all by using an innovative education approach. TENT nurses were taught active learning techniques through a new educational endeavor: leading and facilitating discussion groups.
The CNEs needed resources to develop the facilitation skills of their TENT. A 6-month education plan for the TENT nurses was implemented. Every 2 months, the committee met to develop the TENT's skills in facilitating group discussion. Three focus areas for this 6-month education included how to review the literature, discussion group facilitation strategies, and discussion group practice. First, education on how to perform a literature search to identify discussion article topics and recognize relevant and evidence-based articles was provided. Second, education on effective question formation and successful discussion group facilitation skills was implemented. Last, the TENT nurses practiced their skills through role-playing a discussion group with the rest of the TENT.
The CNEs helped the TENT nurses first identify topics of interest-compassion fatigue, anxiety and heart disease, and Takotsubo syndrome. The TENT nurses were paired with a partner, researched their chosen topic, and critiqued selected articles. Articles that were appropriate for discussion were chosen as the staff group topics. The CNEs met with the TENT nurses to finalize their topics and create questions to ensure a robust discussion. With CNE guidance, active learning techniques were incorporated into each discussion group: self-assessment of compassion fatigue, gaming, and a short video with question and answer. The CNEs sent flyers to units within the hospital advertising the discussion groups, offering one contact hour, and coordinating lunch for participants. Each staff participant who attended the discussion group was asked to read the identified article prior to the session and prepare for the discussion.
At least one CNE was present during the discussion group to assist as needed. The postdiscussion group evaluation results were overwhelmingly positive. For example, one evaluation question received a 98.8% rating for the question, "The discussion group format was effective for this topic (compassion fatigue)." The TENT nurses commented on their strong sense of accomplishment after the discussion groups and the boost in self-confidence to lead an educational activity using this format. As a result, mentoring in this manner was found to be mutually beneficial-the TENT nurses grew professionally and the CNEs were able to expand their ability to address their love to teach topics, important but not urgent topics, by mobilizing and empowering the skilled nurses on their education team.
The risks were minimal for the CNEs, and there was much to be gained by the TENT nurses and those staff attending the discussion groups. The obstacles faced included the preparation that the TENT nurses needed to learn to facilitate a discussion group; however, this obstacle was minimal. This approach reduced the time the CNEs spent on the project. Because the TENT nurses reviewed the literature and designed their discussion questions, the CNE role was one of mentoring and editing their work. The reward the CNEs received from the TENT nurses on furthering their professional growth and increasing their confidence and skills were well worth the time invested in the mentoring process. NPD practitioners could use this approach to facilitate learning for staff and enhance group facilitation skills for selected nurses.