Nursing Care of the Aging Population, Spring 2025
Nursing Care of Women Children and Developing Families, Spring 2025
Nursing Practice Simulation and Skills Lab III, Spring 2025
Nursing Practice Simulation and Skills Lab IV, Spring 2025
Palliative Care in Nursing, Spring 2025
Pediatric Acute Care Nursing, Spring 2025
Receiving the faculty senate award was a huge honor. For this award, I demonstrated how my teaching practices align with my philosophy of teaching to promote the greatest level of student success.
Teaching Philosophy_
My teaching philosophy emphasizes learner autonomy, engagement, and the realization of students' highest potential through personal growth and goal attainment. I aim to create a comprehensive knowledge foundation that is meaningful, purposeful, and promotes long-term retention, preparing students for the nursing profession. As an educator, I am dedicated to teaching excellence by fostering an inclusive, safe, and engaging environment that values individual student experiences, backgrounds, and goals while integrating community and global perspectives. My passion for nursing shines through my enthusiasm, diligence, mentorship, and respect for each student’s unique attributes.
Teaching Approach and Contributions to Student Success_
My commitment to student success aligns with UVU’s values through diverse and innovative teaching strategies designed to engage all learners. I integrate hands-on activities, emerging technologies, and creative methodologies to foster interactive and inclusive learning. The primary components of my teaching that were recognized include_
1. Exceptional Caring through Safe Environments_ I create safe spaces where students feel empowered to share opinions without fear of judgment. For my face-to-face courses, I connect with students through lively classroom dialogue, student self-reflections, and mid semester check-ins to assess understanding and progress. Recognizing the challenges of online learning, I also connect with online students through in-person meetings, video announcements, and live small-group discussions.
2. Exceptional Accountability and Lifelong Learning_ I emphasize that education is a lifelong process and model humility by learning alongside my students. In NURS 2420,students participate in an elder sensitivity activity, simulating physical changes of aging by wearing glasses, earplugs, and rocks in their shoes. I actively participate in these activities, fostering empathy and understanding.
3. Exceptional Results through Innovative Learning Activities_ To help students achieve exceptional results, I design interactive assignments and group projects. For NURS 3340, I redesigned a case study to incorporate Artificial Intelligence (AI), where students engage with a programmed chat bot playing the role of a patient or parent. This innovative activity enhanced collaborative problem-solving and was so well received that I was invited to present it at the Fall 2024 T3 Conference. Faculty from nursing and other departments have since sought my guidance to develop similar activities.
4. Diversity and Cultural Awareness_ I incorporate assignments that highlight diverse cultural practices both locally and globally. In NURS 4230, students research end-of-life practices and spiritual beliefs in another culture and interview individuals from different cultural and religious backgrounds. Similarly, in NURS 4210, I assign students to explore childbirth traditions worldwide. These projects spark lively class discussions, enhance cultural empathy, and foster a deeper understanding of global nursing practices, skills essential for well-rounded nurses.
Being nominated for the OTL Innovative Teaching with Technology was an honor for me, especially since I used to shy away from using high levels of technology in many facets of my teaching. As a result of my T3 Technology teaching presentation on the use of AI Chatbots in my NURS 3340_ Nursing Care of Women, Children, and Developing Families, I was nominated for this award.
As someone who initially resisted incorporating too much technology into my teaching, I was hesitant to explore artificial intelligence in the classroom. However, after observing the challenges of how to make case studies more interactive and humanized, allowing students to develop stronger personal connections with their “patients” and reinforce the essential interpersonal communication skills that are integral to nursing, I sought some alternative solutions. While I realized technology was changing, and AI programs were evolving beyond simply existing as a platform for rewriting study research papers, I was intimidated and unsure as to the potential solutions it could offer nursing students who needed to improve their interpersonal communication skills. As a result, I applied to the UVU AI Academy for faculty. There, I was introduced to innovative AI applications, leading me to explore the possibility of creating interactive virtual patients for my students through one of those new applications.
Through extensive trial and error, I transformed my traditional static pediatric case studies into interactive chatbots that students could communicate with in a classroom setting. I began with five AI-driven patient personas—three designed as parents of young children and two representing pediatric patients, each with specific clinical problems that were a class objective. These chatbots allowed students to engage in realistic role-play exercises, with the students acting as nurses while the bots simulated patients or parents.
Each chatbot was carefully developed with a detailed profile, including a name, picture, background information, and specific age-appropriate language and behaviors to enhance authenticity. By defining distinct personality traits and knowledge levels, I ensured that students had to tailor their communication and patient education strategies accordingly. Some chatbots had higher education levels, while others required simpler explanations, encouraging students to adjust their interactions based on the patient's developmental needs. Additionally, I integrated questions into the chatbot’s responses to address textbook knowledge, further reinforcing course content in an interactive format.
The chatbots initiated conversations with students using natural language, incorporating tone and emotions to simulate real-life interactions. Students responded, asked questions, and provided recommendations, engaging in dynamic, back-and-forth dialogue until the simulated clinical visit was completed.
Student feedback on the activity was overwhelmingly positive, especially compared to traditional written case studies. The interactive format made the learning experience more engaging and personal, helping students develop stronger communication skills. Additionally, the activity was completed in small groups in class to foster student collaboration and class discussion. As each student group was unique and gave different recommendations to their chatbots, the corresponding chatbot responses were also varied and unique, creating more real-life experiences overall better communication for the students in class. The program allows the instructor to modify the chatbot profiles and behaviors as needed, which was helpful during my own learning process!
Even though I was not the final recipient of this prestigious award, I was very honored to be nominated for something that originated so far out of my personal comfort zone!
I was nominated by a fellow colleague in the nursing department for the Dean's Excellence Award for Service Excellence. Specifically, I was nominated for my work in establishing a faculty-led mentoring program for undergraduate nursing students, assisting other faculty in their tenure preparations, volunteering at multiple university, department, and community outreach events, and serving on multiple committees. Despite not receiving the award, I was honored to be among group of peers who have nominated for this prestigious award.
