Defining essential psychomotor skills for nursing students
From Evidence to Practice: Validating Essential Skills in Nursing Education
Defining essential psychomotor skills for prelicensure nursing students is only the first step. The greater challenge facing nursing programs today is translating those priorities into consistent, scalable teaching and assessment practices that truly prepare students for clinical practice.
Building on recent research examining the most critical psychomotor skills for new graduates, this webinar moves from definition to implementation. Participants will explore how nursing programs can operationalize evidence-based skill priorities across the curriculum—using intentional instructional design, mastery-based learning approaches, and meaningful assessment data.
Through a combination of research insights and practical examples, the session will highlight how skills can be taught, practiced, and evaluated in ways that support learner development, faculty efficiency, and program-level consistency.
What You'll Learn
In this session, you’ll gain insight into how nursing programs can:
- ✓Translate psychomotor skill research into actionable teaching and assessment strategies
- ✓Thread essential skills intentionally across the curriculum
- ✓Support mastery learning through structured practice and evaluation
- ✓Use assessment data to identify learner strengths and gaps
Guest Speakers
Fara Bowler
DNP, APRN, CHSE-A
Associate Professor, Assistant Dean of Clinical Simulation Science
Susan Hébert
PhD, RN, CHSE
Assistant Dean of Simulation for the College of Nursing
Beth Hallmark
DNP, APRN, CHSE-A
Professor for the Inman
College of Nursing
Speaker Bios
Fara Bowler
DNP, APRN, CHSE-A
Associate Professor at the University of Colorado College of Nursing
Dr. Fara Bowler, DNP, APRN, CHSE-A, is an Associate Professor at the University of Colorado College of Nursing and serves as Assistant Dean for Clinical Simulation Science and Senior Director for Clinical Partnership and Placements. Over the past decade, she has led significant growth in simulation-based education, expanding programs from a single shared manikin to a 20,000-square-foot network of four simulation facilities across Colorado.
She earned her master’s degree from the University of Colorado (2005) and her Executive DNP from Johns Hopkins University (2018). An Advanced Certified Healthcare Simulation Educator, she developed a behavioral health curriculum using virtual reality and screen-based simulation, which is now implemented across nursing programs. Her current initiatives include advancing Open Educational Resources and leading a Dean’s Innovation Award project on large-scale simulation in graduate education.
Dr. Bowler serves on the INACSL Board of Directors and previously led development of the 2021 Healthcare Simulation Standards of Best Practice: Professional Integrity.
Susan Hébert
PhD, RN, CHSE
Assistant Dean of Simulation for the College of Nursing
Dr. Susan Henley Hébert is a nurse innovator transforming healthcare education through simulation technology. As Assistant Dean of Simulation for the College of Nursing and collaborator of the HITS Lab at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, she is a sought-after expert in simulation-based best practices and next-generation learning technologies. She also serves as a consultant in simulation accreditation, space design, and academic integration of simulation modalities.
Dr. Hébert holds a Ph.D. in Nursing from the University of Tennessee, an M.S. in Medical Simulation from Drexel College of Medicine, and specialized training in standardized patient methodologies and simulation-based mastery learning. She is actively engaged in the National League of Nursing Simulation Leader Program, the International Society for Simulation in Healthcare, the International Nursing Association for Clinical Simulation and Learning, and the Tennessee Simulation Alliance.
Beth Fentress Hallmark
PhD, RN, CHSE-A, ANEF, FAAN
Professor at the Inman College of Nursing
Dr. Beth Fentress Hallmark is a nationally recognized leader in healthcare simulation education with 20 years of dedicated expertise in advancing simulation pedagogy and practice. As Professor of Nursing and Director of Education at the Belmont University Center for Interprofessional Engagement and Simulation, Dr. Hallmark has been instrumental in shaping the future of simulation-based healthcare education.
She is a co‑author of the Healthcare Simulation Standards of Best Practice™, serves on the INACSL Board of Directors, is an editorial board member for simulation journals, and is a frequent national and international speaker on simulation excellence.