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Teaching and learning

Educator Guide

Illustrated banner of nurse educators integrating practice development scholarship and critical AI appraisal into teaching
For educators

Curriculum integration — bring person-centred AI and practice development principles into teaching, grounded in open-access scholarship.

Teaching ideas

Grounding texts & reflection — use IPDJ articles as primary sources, AI-scaffolded Gibbs reflection and carefully prompted diverse case studies.

Caution

Drafts, not answers — AI simulates person-centred language without understanding it; review every output for accuracy and cultural sensitivity.

This guide helps nursing educators integrate person-centred AI and practice development principles into their teaching, drawing on open-access practice development scholarship including the Foundation of Nursing Studies (FoNS) and the International Practice Development Journal (IPDJ).

Why Integrate Practice Development Principles with AI?​

1. Values Grounding

Anchor in nursing scholarship

Ground AI outputs in nursing values and practice development principles rather than generic internet training data.

2. Critical Appraisal

Compare against primary sources

Promote critical thinking by asking students to compare AI summaries directly against peer-reviewed IPDJ articles.

3. Role Modelling

Transparent educator practice

Model how to disclose, verify and critique AI outputs openly in healthcare education.

Curriculum Integration Ideas​

1. IPDJ as "Grounding Text"​

Use articles from the IPDJ Archive as primary sources in your teaching. Then, ask students to use AI to:

  • Summarise the key findings of an article.
  • Critique the summary by comparing it to their own reading.
  • Apply the findings to a clinical scenario.

Example Prompt for Students:

Summarise the key findings of the following article from the International Practice Development Journal. Then, explain how these findings could be applied to the care of a patient with dementia in an acute hospital setting.

[Paste article abstract or key section here]

Discussion Point: Where does the AI's summary fall short? What nuances from the original article are lost?

2. AI-Facilitated Reflective Writing​

Use AI to scaffold Gibbs' Reflective Cycle or Driscoll's Model of Reflection.

Example Prompt for Educators:

You are a facilitator for reflective writing. A nursing student will describe a clinical experience. Your role is to guide them through Gibbs' Reflective Cycle by asking questions for each stage: Description, Feelings, Evaluation, Analysis, Conclusion, and Action Plan. Do not complete the reflection for them; only ask guiding questions.

Teaching Tip: Have students submit both their AI-guided reflection and a short meta-reflection on what it was like to use AI for this purpose.

3. Creating Diverse Case Studies​

One challenge in nursing education is creating case studies that reflect the diversity of patient populations. AI can assist, but must be prompted carefully.

Example Prompt:

Generate a clinical case study for a 55-year-old Somali woman with gestational diabetes. The case study should:
- Include culturally specific considerations (e.g., fasting during Ramadan).
- Avoid stereotypes.
- Highlight person-centred outcomes using the McCormack & McCance framework.
- Include 3 discussion questions for students.

Important: Always review AI-generated case studies for accuracy and cultural sensitivity. Use them as drafts, not finished products.

4. Assessing Empathy Through AI​

While AI cannot truly assess empathy, it can help students practise and articulate empathetic responses.

Classroom Activity:

  1. Present a short video clip of a patient expressing a concern.

  2. Ask students to write a response.

  3. Have students use AI to get feedback on their response using a prompt like:

    I am a nursing student. Please provide feedback on the following response I gave to a patient who was upset about a delayed discharge. Was my response empathetic? Did I use jargon? How could I improve?

    "I understand you're frustrated. We're doing everything we can."

  4. Discuss as a class: Was the AI's feedback helpful? What did it miss?

Embedding Practice Development Principles in AI Prompts​

The CARE prompt framework can be adapted to embed practice development principles:

ElementDescriptionExample (Practice Development Principles)
ContextBackground information"You are grounded in practice development principles and the Person-centred Practice Framework (McCormack and McCance)."
ActionWhat the AI should do"Analyse this care plan for person-centred language."
RoleThe persona for the AI"Act as a practice development facilitator."
ExpectationDesired output format"Provide feedback in bullet points, referencing practice development principles."

Resources for Educators​

ResourceDescriptionLink
IPDJ ArchiveOpen-access journal articles on practice development (from 2011)fons.org/library/journal
Creating Caring Cultures ToolkitResources for workplace culture and practice developmentCreating Caring Cultures
Person-Centred Nursing FrameworkOriginal McCormack & McCance frameworkSearch PubMed

Caution: AI Limitations in Person-Centred Care​

Important

AI can simulate person-centred language, but it does not understand person-centredness. Always remind students:

  • AI outputs are a starting point, not a final answer.
  • Empathy is a human quality that cannot be replaced by technology.
  • Critical appraisal of any AI output is essential.