The next generation of nurse educators is using AI to learn and teach

The use of generative AI to support role-playing learning scenarios is unfolding across Arizona State University — from debating with AI-generated philosophers to language learning with on-demand study buddies. 

Another project underway includes graduate students enrolled in NUR 579 Role-Focused Practicum who are using ChatGPT Edu to develop simulations that facilitate patient-provider engagements. A team of faculty at the Edson College of Nursing and Health Innovation has been collaborating on the project for over a year. 

This team includes: 

• Margaret Calacci, director of immersive technology and clinical associate professor, offers expertise in technology integration for teaching and learning 
• Brenda Morris, a clinical professor teaching the NUR 579 Role-Focused Practicum 
• Karen Saewert, a clinical professor capturing the impact and outcomes of competency development

Students enrolled in the NUR 579 — offered through ASU Online — are learning to become nurse educators. In this course, students learn how to use a custom GPT to develop a storyboard that can guide a simulated patient-provider interaction.

Calacci took on the role of developing the custom GPT inside ChatGPT Edu, which she earned access to through the university’s AI Innovation Challenge. She used a set of detailed instructions to guide the AI’s interactions and responses. The goal of the GPT was to help nurse educators create the baseline storyboard for their simulation. 

“By using ChatGPT, students can develop the storyboard of the simulated patient-provider experience in minutes rather than hours,” Calacci said. “This outline includes the simulated patient’s background story – including things like name, demographics, personal history – as well as sets up the clinical skills the nursing student will need to demonstrate.”

The storyboard will then undergo multiple rounds of critique, evaluation, and validation to ensure it aligns with current nursing practice and standards. 

“The human factor is critical,” said Saewert. “Even though AI tools are designed to elevate your initiatives and launch your students’ work, students must apply their clinical and professional expertise to assess the appropriateness of the tool's output.”

“Currently, a group of [NUR 579] students are exploring the use of ChatGPT to create a storyboard for the simulation,” Calacci said. “We hope to bring one of these simulations to life, so to speak.”

To date, 11 students crafted storyboard ideas using the custom GPT.

Designing the storyboard for the simulation is one of many steps in the process for those completing their studies as a nurse educator. Aspiring nurse educators will work to act through the simulation with nursing students in a lab setting. 

One new area of learning unfolded through prompt engineering – the back-and-forth dialogue between a user and the AI. 

“Thinking can seem rather invisible,” said Saewert. “Generative AI and prompt engineering help to make that thinking visible.” 

By working through a series of prompts, these students work to articulate their goals and learning objectives for their simulation. 

Upskilling on AI literacy 

Developing AI literacy skills was also critical for the faculty leading the project. Calacci, Morris, and Saewert spent prior semesters developing their AI knowledge before designing the GPT and bringing it into the classroom. “It's safe to say we had to get up to speed before explaining AI to our students,” Morris said. 

All three completed the “Teaching and Learning with Generative AI,” a self-paced course available to all faculty at ASU; to date, nearly 3,000 faculty members have engaged with the course since its launch in late 2023.

While the project is still in the early stages, the faculty has been pleased with the student response. “When you think about education, one of its most important aspects is expanding our thinking,” shared Morris. Morris noted how some students were skeptical of using AI at the start but “going through the process helped open their minds to the possibilities.”