Nurse practitioner students as an essential workforce: The lessons of coronavirus disease 2019.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) disrupted the education and clinical training of nursing students. Clinical sites shut out students over low equipment supplies, physical distancing requirements, and redeployment of staff.The purpose of this paper is to highlight a progressive solution to engage nurse practitioner students as part of the COVID-19 response given the disruption of their traditional clinical training environments so that student could continue to matriculate and graduate in a timely manner.Nurse practitioner students swiftly responded and were deemed an essential part of the nursing workforce.Policy implications for advanced nursing practice and education for telehealth and simulation research moving forward is also provided.

Duke Scholars

Author Catherine Lynch Gilliss School of Nursing