Nursing Grand Rounds in NP Education

Faculty at the School of Nursing utilizes Nursing Grand Rounds (NGR) in the MSN program Adult Gero Nurse Practitioner (AGNP) track.  Using the case study format as framework, AGNP students present a scholarly, professional presentation to student peers, faculty and invited guests. The student will choose a patient early in the semester, and following assignment guidelines, will examine specific care, review pathophysiology, and evaluate medical and nursing care provided to the patient. Choice of treatment will be discussed in terms of current best practice and national standards and patient preference. The audience is invited to ask questions and provide comments; the student response to questions is considered further demonstration of mastery of the topic and professionalism.

The use of Nursing Grand Rounds (NGR) is a useful tool for evaluating the nurse practitioner students’ ability to identify, select, deliver, and evaluate current evidence-based practice (EBP) including patient preference in the clinical setting, as well as demonstrate scholarly writing, and provides the venue for professional presentation. For this assignment, scholarly writing is evidenced by submission of a formal paper with correct APA formatting which describes the development of the NGR. Both the written paper and formal presentation are counted toward the final grade for the assignment.

Grand Rounds have been used in physician education and practice for many years, but nursing’s use of Grand Rounds is not well documented in the literature.  As healthcare moves more toward the inclusion of Interprofessional teams for in-patient care, the use of Grand Rounds will become more important as a venue for sharing patient information among team members.  Nurse Practitioners must understand their role as a member of the Interprofessional team, especially as this relates to nursing theory and knowledge, the inclusion of nursing’s unique perspective is a valuable component of Interprofessional healthcare. The course assignment  is a valuable teaching method to assist NP students to learn their place on the healthcare team, and to realize the importance of nursing care to improved patient outcomes.