Grand round teleconference as an inclusive pedagogy to empower NP education: Curriculum innovation for inclusive learning and competency enhancement

In ever-evolving higher education and online programs, faculty are challenged to keep students up to date and engaged in their learning. Grand Rounds (GR) have been primarily utilized in hospital settings for medical education for doctors and residency students. Since 2016, Radford University has incorporated GRs into NP education to promote inclusive learning and enhance clinical reasoning/knowledge among students/faculty. GRs utilized a format of real clinical case analysis and offered weekly via teleconference. A student from the advanced clinical courses presents the case. Differential diagnoses, diagnostic tests, management, and relevant current practice guidelines were discussed as a group. Students in the early phase of the program were invited to the discussion. Additionally, GR has been used as a platform to discuss emerging or sensitive healthcare issues, incorporating real cases. Google Jamboard and SNAPPS methodology were incorporated to visualize interactive discussion and enhance oral case report skills. GR is an effective strategy to enhance student engagement and provide a safe shared-learning environment to empower students to refine clinical reasoning skills. Students reported increased engagement in their learning, feeling competent in diagnostic reasoning, treatment/management planning, and case reporting skills. This is supported by the preceptor's student evaluation report.