Authors

  1. Hanna, Kimberly PhD, RN
  2. Bruce, Lori PhD
  3. Ray, Leigh Ann FNP, RN

Article Content

Administrators (with nursing, health, and institutional expertise) expanded their roles to partner with the Provost in educating the university on managing issues with great potential to impact health. In a Provost-facilitated LEAD (Leadership) Workshop, a virtual tabletop exercise was used to educate deans, directors, and chairs to deal with the prevention and transmission of infectious diseases on campus. It was a unique approach as case scenarios and questions/answers with rationale were developed by the Dean of the School of Nursing, Director (Family Nurse Practitioner) of Health Services, and the Provost. The case scenarios dealt with realistic situations faculty could face in a classroom or campus setting. In the tabletop exercise, the Provost served as the facilitator, questions were read, and answers were provided by top university administrators providing rationale with opportunities for discussion. By allowing the university administrators to answer questions specific to their department/unit, the audience could determine who to approach with certain concerns in the future. The tabletop exercise information (similar to a toolkit with case scenarios, questions, answers, and rationale) was provided to chairs and directors to educate faculty in their departments. In addition, the video of the Zoom was provided to all university faculty. A similar tabletop exercise toolkit was provided to faculty by their chairs/directors for use with students virtually or in the classroom. Although piloted during the pandemic, this strategy could be used anytime with a variety of topics.