Improve Critical Thinking and Staff Well-Being

Pediatric Learning Solutions, a product of the Children’s Hospital Association, has created roadmaps to assist education teams in identifying the performance criteria and learning needed for success in two essential areas. Each curriculum combines PLS online courses, app tools, and instructor-led or simulation activities.

Staff well-being and self-care curriculum

Strengthen staff resilience and provide conflict resolution techniques while encouraging self-care techniques. Two PLS online courses, Vicarious Trauma and Self-Care and Therapeutic Relationships and Self-Care, are included.

View the curriculum.

Critical thinking curriculum

New graduate nurses have fewer opportunities to develop critical thinking skills prior to hire and typically have little to no pediatric exposure. PLS has collated a wide variety of educational materials to assist education teams and preceptors in fostering clinical reasoning and judgment and guide learners’ continued development.

View the curriculum.

Supporting resources

Critical Thinking Webinar Series

Education teams, mentors, and preceptors can view recordings from a two-part webinar series, presented by Mary Ann Jessee, PhD, RN, of Vanderbilt University School of Nursing, to learn effective ways to encourage critical thinking among new clinicians.

Part 1: Strategies for Fostering Clinical Reasoning and Judgment in Clinical Practice

Learn about the concepts related to clinical judgment and why they are important.

Part 2: Clinical Coaching to Enhance Clinical Judgment in Practice

A collaborative session using case scenarios to analyze how educators’ actions impact staff growth.

Understanding the Next Generation of Pediatric Clinicians Article Series

Staff from PLS researched the current health care learning landscape to assess emerging trends. This included discussions around the challenges and opportunities hospitals are facing in educating their staff, changes in the learning landscape, and potential solutions going forward. 

• Explore key themes from the combined research effort.
• View an infographic with the top takeaways.

NOTE: The resources in these curricula are available to staff at PLS participating hospitals. Courses are accessed through participating organizations’ Learning Management Systems. Please check with your organization’s education team or contact Patty Kohn to learn more.