2021 Patsy J. Mellott Teaching Innovation Award
Written By: Rebecca Hoffa, rhoffa@purdue.edu
Janelle PotetzPhoto provided
Becky GoodPhoto provided
Becky Good, clinical associate professor of nursing and director of the family nurse practitioner program, and Janelle Potetz, clinical assistant professor of nursing, are the 2021 recipients of the Patsy J. Mellott Teaching Innovation Award. Established by College of Health and Human Sciences (HHS) alumna Patsy Mellott, the award supports HHS faculty who demonstrate their excellence and leadership as teachers by proposing significant innovations to enhance the quality of HHS educational programs.
Good and Potetz will apply the award funds toward the costs associated with integrating the asynchronous, virtual Advanced Primary Care Adults Digital Clinical Experience (DCE) simulation program into four graduate nurse practitioner clinical courses. Resulting from challenges related to placement in the medical field, the faculty team’s innovation will offer simulation opportunities within a virtual setting using human-like avatars. Virtual simulation provides an opportunity for students to practice their skills using real-life patient care scenarios without the fear of mistakes.
The DCE simulation will allow students to conduct advanced assessments, formulate a list of possible diagnoses, implement appropriate treatment plans to manage acute and chronic health problems, evaluate appropriate diagnostic and preventative screenings as well as laboratory tests, and deliver personalized care. Additionally, rather than relying on feedback from a practitioner in the field, students will receive immediate, individualized feedback, and faculty can directly monitor student performance. Implementation of this simulation program is designed to increase students’ knowledge, satisfaction, confidence, communication and critical thinking.
The Patsy J. Mellott Teaching Innovation Award provides up to $2,500 for one year to individual or small groups of HHS faculty for a wide variety of innovative projects, including but not limited to the design of new courses, the development of new models for teaching existing courses, the creation of new curricula and the purchase of equipment to enrich students’ learning in a course or set of courses.
Learn more about the proposal process and review.