Radford University is a public university in Radford, Virginia. Its Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP) program prepares registered nurses to become advanced practice nurses who can provide primary care to patients of all ages in a variety of settings. Learn how NP faculty integrated VisualDx into the curriculum and improved students’ test scores and better prepared them for real-world scenarios they encounter when treating patients.
The Challenge: Remediating Weak Areas Identified on Predictor Tests
In 2014, faculty in the FNP program noticed that students were struggling with differential diagnosis. Predictor tests are often used as a tool for teaching weak areas in differential diagnoses skills. These tests are designed to assess student knowledge and understanding of medical topics by providing them with questions related to those topics, such as symptoms associated with certain illnesses or treatments available for those illnesses.
By utilizing these types of assessments regularly throughout their coursework, instructors can pinpoint any areas where additional instruction may be needed and provide appropriate interventions accordingly so that all learners have the opportunity for success on exams like differential diagnoses testing scenarios down the line.
Many educators find it difficult to effectively help their students remediate these tests.
The Solution:
After the students take a nationally recognized predictor test, it is important to identify areas that need improvement and create strategies for remediation. This process begins with statistical analysis of the results in order to pinpoint the lowest cohort area. Once this has been established, instructors create signature assignments that are specific to that cohort and designed specifically as remediation tools.
Signature Assignments
Radford University began licensing VisualDx in 2020 and has since created a total of 11 signature assignments used as remediation topics for students to focus on weak areas.
In the preceptorship course, instructors took those areas where students scored lowest and chose diagnoses that were then built into cases for them to create differentials using VisualDx’s custom differential builder. This gave students more practice with their diagnosis skills and better prepared them for real-world scenarios they encounter when treating patients.
These signature assignments provide an opportunity for targeted instruction based on individual student needs since they have already been tested on their knowledge of certain subject matter. They also help teachers assess how well their students understand a concept by providing them with feedback from these more focused activities rather than relying solely on traditional assessments, such as quizzes or exams.
Similarly, in Radford’s Primary Care course, VisualDx provided even more opportunities to help students improve their test scores through its selection of topics assigned by instructors which each student had to present based on information found within its platform; similar predictor tests helped give each student a chance at remediation if needed.
Overall, students’ scores in 71% of the topics in which they had a signature assignment based on VisualDx
Handbook-Length Resources
Another helpful resource when teaching weak areas in this area is having access to synthesized information from clinical guidelines and other professional references. This type of information helps make complex concepts easier to understand while also providing up-to-date resources on emerging trends within medicine so that learners stay informed about current best practices within healthcare settings today.
Having access to this kind of bullet point information allows instructors to not only teach more effectively but also provides students with reliable sources they can reference during their own studies outside class time.
Overall, through using predictive assessment tools combined alongside synthesized info from clinical guidelines/professional references, Radford faculty now have multiple avenues at their disposal when helping learners master challenging concepts like differentials diagnosis.
The information in VisualDx is not overwhelming—there is just enough to hit the major points. As nurse practitioners, we not only look at how to treat the patient with pharmaceutical modalities but we’re looking at those health promotion opportunities.
—Milena Staykova, EdD, APRN, FNP-BC
Outcomes:
By utilizing VisualDx, combined with targeted instruction from faculty members, Radford University has seen marked improvement in students’ Predictor Test performance since implementing this strategy into the curriculum.
The results of a VisualDx signature assignment in remediation have been extremely encouraging. Students who participated in a signature assignment scored higher on their second predictor tests almost every instance. They were also able to develop the skills necessary for defending their medical decisions.
Through this exercise, students gained invaluable experience by being exposed to differential diagnoses from which they could further expand their learning, explain why other diagnoses are less likely, and consider what they may be missing while validating their own thoughts.
VisualDx encourages the student to click on the differential diagnoses and further expand their learning. It’s not just offering one primary diagnosis but a list of potential others that students need to consider when making their diagnostic reasoning.
—Milena Staykova EdD, APRN, FNP-BC
About Radford University
Radford University is a public university located in Radford, Virginia. It was founded in 1910 as the State Normal and Industrial School for Women at Radford, and later became Radford College in 1949 before gaining university status in 1979.
Radford University offers a Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) program with a concentration in Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP). This program prepares registered nurses to become advanced practice nurses who can provide primary care to patients of all ages in a variety of settings.
The FNP program at Radford University is designed to provide students with a broad foundation in nursing theory and research, pharmacology, health assessment, and clinical practice. The program consists of 47 credit hours, including didactic courses, clinical practicum, and a capstone project.