We know that the recent weeks have been unprecedented and very trying for everyone, both personally and professionally. Our clinical education community is no exception; facing challenges and uncertainty at a rapid fire pace!
But if there is one thing that we know about clinical educators, it is that they are resilient. It is who we are – always available, ready for anything, and always able to devise a plan of action. And we have already shown this spirit amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.
ACAPT's National Consortium of Clinical Educators (NCCE) board asked our academic partners to respond to a survey with very little turn-around time. Working together we were able to move from deployment of survey to submitting this Clinical Educator COVID-19 Report in 48 hours and we did this with an 81% response rate!
This mobilization and sharing of facts from a unified group of stakeholders contributed to CAPTE’s second revision of their COVID-19 guidance. The NCCE board is grateful for our members’ responsiveness especially during this time when we know you are dealing with a host of novel and continually-evolving challenges.
With this data gathering and reporting behind us, we need to begin devising plans to help us with the challenges that lie ahead. The survey data was very clear – we may be making our way through the acute phase of this situation, but there will be “trickle-down effects”.
We must continue collaborating to manage the fall out that is sure to come in the months and year ahead. The NCCE board is working with ACAPT, Clinical Education CE-SIG and PTAE-SIG to develop mechanisms for open-source resource sharing and communication. Here are some emerging products of our collaborations so far:
- Register for free here.
- After registering, you will receive an email from ACAPT with your login information. Processing registrations has been taking 48 hours; however, with an increase in traffic, this may result in longer time frames. We appreciate your patience and understanding.
- Log in and subscribe to the forum.
We appreciate any constructive feedback on the forum as this is new and evolving!
We also plan to brainstorm with ACAPT, CESIG, PTAESIG and the entire clinical education community with the goal of identifying innovative ways to collaborate and maximize capacity without creating undue burden on an already strained system. Over the last several years, we have discussed the need to re-imagine how our profession does clinical education. This time of adversity is the perfect time to work together to trial innovation for the best interest of our profession.
If you have any ideas that you would like to share, the NCCE Board would love to hear from you! For questions and comments, email ncce@acapt.org.