New Methodologies for Nursing Education

Exploring strategies for fostering autonomy in nurse practitioner students' clinical education.  

Dr. Viktoriya Pleshkan, assistant professor in the Loewenberg College of Nursing, recently received an award from the American Association of Nurse Practitioners (NP). The purpose of this hermeneutic phenomenological study is to describe and explain NPs and physician preceptors’ experiences with preparing nurse practitioner students for the transition to becoming autonomous clinicians during their experiences at clinical sites. 

The findings of this project could directly influence the understanding of how NP students are prepared for independent practice. This insight has the potential to inform changes in the clinical education of NPs, particularly in terms of incorporating mentored independent clinical activities within controlled learning environments. 

For more information on this initiative, contact Pleshkan at viktoriya.pleshkan@memphis.edu. 

About Viktoriya Pleshkan

Dr. Viktoriya Pleshkan joined the Loewenberg College of Nursing faculty in 2019. She earned her BSN degree from Indiana Perdue University of Fort Wayne (IPFW), a Family Nurse practitioner degree from the University of St. Francis in Fort Wayne IN, and a Ph.D. in Nursing (along with the certificate in online education) from the Walden University of, Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Pleshkan's main research interest includes improving nurse practitioners (NP) transition to practice. She focuses on remodeling preceptorship during NPs’ role transition both before and after graduation and she published a Cognitive Preceptorship Model to help guide the process of NP preceptorship. Pleshkan's second research interest includes exploring lifestyle modifications in the prevention of chronic illnesses. She has been collaborating with the College of Health Sciences at the University of Memphis on a Food Fusion (food literacy) project. The ongoing project started in 2021 and includes a multidisciplinary approach to designing and implementing after school food literacy program for school-aged children.