A UNLV nursing grad has launched an online program that teaches nursing students how to establish patient care plans. | Zach Vessels/Unsplash
A UNLV nursing grad has launched an online program that teaches nursing students how to establish patient care plans. | Zach Vessels/Unsplash
Catherine Prato-Lefkowitz, a graduate of the nursing program at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV), has recently launched NurseMuse, an online program that teaches nursing students how to establish patient care plans; a UNLV news release said.
NurseMuse was officially launched in the spring of 2022 with the dual purpose of streamlining nurse recordkeeping while removing any confusion around the concept of a care plan.
Prato-Lefkowitz noted that NurseMuse was conceptualized while she was pursuing her Executive MBA at UNLV, and she tested the program with UNLV students to receive their feedback.
“I'd say, ‘Tell me what's missing,’” Prato-Lefkowitz stated in the release. “They say, ‘It would be great if we could pull up normal vital signs for a baby versus an elderly patient,’ or ‘It would be great to look up a normal lab value.’ It started evolving from there, getting feedback from nursing students.”
NurseMuse could also serve as a learning device for students in the event of another event resulting in the shutdown of clinical resources, Prato-Lefkowitz said. She worked on the program during the COVID-19 pandemic,.
“A lot of students never entered a hospital [during the pandemic]," she said in the release. "Now, they're graduating nurses, and they've never touched a patient."
Prato-Lefkowitz stated that she didn't set out to create a nursing-related invention. But as a result of a chat with a pharmacy CEO, she is now in charge of a new company she thinks can simplify the teaching of nursing students. Her objective is to introduce the program to nursing schools throughout the United States.
"I think with this program, we can use it with simulation or case study, or integrate it into our curriculum so our students get more of that understanding, which is important for how these concepts connect with one another," she said. "Then, if they don't get to touch a patient, at least they're going to understand that ‘why.’”
Prato-Lefkowitz also hopes to make NurseMuse accessible to licensed nursing assistants and nurse practitioners.
Alerts Sign-up