October 15, 2019

Graduate Nursing Course Earns National Award

PBA News

The Association of Christian Continuing Education Schools and Seminaries chose the University’s Advanced Nursing Practicum II as its Course of the Year Award for Outstanding Hybrid Course.

The University received the award at the ACCESS annual conference at Belhaven University in Mississippi earlier this year. ACCESS is an organization that promotes excellence in distance learning.

Dr. Judy Enyart was the lead instructional designer for the course developed by Drs. Raquel Vera-McLean, Nakisha Kinlaw, Jennifer Kuretski and Jill Shutes. Kinlaw and Drs. Tracey Cursons and Michelle Smith taught the curriculum. This is the first course that the graduate nursing faculty developed collaboratively, and they expect more courses to follow.

In the hybrid course, students completed didactic lessons — which provide required theoretical knowledge — online. In the classroom, students applied the theoretical knowledge with group activities. For example, a coin-spinning exercise taught students to use rapid-cycle testing that’s foundational for any quality improvement activity in a healthcare setting, Shutes said.

Throughout the lesson, students understood how theory and prediction inform learning. They collected real-time data and practiced learning as a team — and they had fun while doing it, Shutes said.

Director of eLearning Melanie Jackson said it was a pleasure to see the hard work of the innovative nursing faculty and the eLearning team recognized.

PBA offers many nursing programs and courses in the hybrid and online format. Learn more about them here.

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