Program Overview

The need for information and technology to enhance nursing education and practice, optimize patient safety, and drive improvements in health care quality is paramount in the current healthcare system. Transforming the teaching and learning environment requires a strong institutional infrastructure, faculty commitment and vision, interdisciplinary collaboration, and measurable outcomes. Simulated learning, informatics, and the development and use of telehealth are integral in the transformation of the 21st century learning environment.

The University of Pittsburgh School of Nursing seeks to educate nursing faculty on the implementation, evaluation and dissemination of learning technologies in undergraduate and graduate education through the ELITE (Emerging Learning and Integrated Technologies Education) Faculty Development Program.

The ELITE Faculty Development Program consists of workshops in five broad categories—Learning Technologies, Distance Education, Emerging Informatics Technologies, Telehealth Technologies and High Fidelity Human Simulation. The workshops are offered at the University of Pittsburgh School of Nursing; via synchronous delivery off-site; and via our dedicated web-site.

The School of Nursing, through its Center for Innovation in Clinical Learning (CICL) and our partnerships with our collaborative instructional partners such as The Peter M. Winter Institute for Simulation Education and Research (WISER), Center of Excellence for Rural and Medically Underserved Areas (CERMUSA) of St. Francis University, Telehealth Research Institute (TRI) of the University of Hawaii, and West Virginia University is well positioned as an expert and authority in learning technologies education usage and education of cliniciansm nursing faculty and nurse educators. This project will combine our expertise with a multiinstitutional collaborative of simulated learning, informatics, and telehealth educators and researchers to train faculty in the use of information and other technologies for nursing education and practice.

The ELITE Faculty Development Program is supported by funds from the Division of Nursing and the Office of Health Information Technology, Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS).