Innovative Opportunities for Nurse Practitioner Education Uncovered by the Pandemic

Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic resulted in the abrupt withdrawal of clinical sites for nurse practitioner (NP) students during the Spring semester of 2020. This situation necessitated the identification of innovative clinical opportunities to ensure advanced practice nursing students met course objectives and program requirements. Method: This article describes innovative clinical opportunities that met the needs of the community, including those impacted by the pandemic, and enabled NP students' progression toward completing clinical requirements. Results: Participation in these unique opportunities provided more than 130 NP students with meaningful clinical experiences to increase competence in the care of vulnerable populations and communities during a public health crisis. Conclusion: Experiences supported competency development in the areas of leadership, clinical management, population health and infection control, policy and advocacy, informatics, telehealth, and ethical considerations while providing essential services to the community. These innovative clinical opportunities may be useful for graduate clinical programs worldwide.