“I found out early on that I could take care of more patients through my students than I could by myself. I want the patients to get the best possible care.” - Leigh Goldstein
After 16 years with the School of Nursing, Leigh Goldstein, PhD, RN, ANP-BC, CNE, associate professor in clinical nursing and director of the Learning Enhancement and Academic Progress (LEAP) Center, departed in 2024, to be closer to family in Maryland.
In 2014, Goldstein, then a clinical assistant professor at the School of Nursing, was tasked by then-Dean Alexa Stuifbergen, PhD, RN, FAAN, James R. Dougherty Jr. Centennial Professor, to launch the LEAP Center to strengthen academic resources and services for students and faculty at the School of Nursing.
The LEAP Center is designed to combine strategic areas within the School—such as the learning center, computer testing, simulation center, skills training, student academic support and media services—into a single cohesive unit that streamlines and optimizes the delivery of both student and faculty development.
“When I asked Leigh Goldstein to serve as the director of the LEAP Center in 2014, I knew she would bring her significant leadership and management experience, as well as her innovative mindset and enthusiasm to this new position,” Stuifbergen said.
“I charged her with redesigning the model of services while keeping a very close eye on student success outcomes and costs. She managed multiple renovation projects of the simulation and learning skills, greatly expanded the use of simulation in our clinical courses, achieved national and international recognition for the introduction of peer video performance exams and introduced many innovative programs, including the School serving as a training center for basic life support classes and the Longhorn Nursing summer camp for high school students.”
Innovative growth
Another program put in place by Goldstein has enhanced faculty education and support services, including implementing a grant program for various teaching excellence certifications, such as the Certified Nurse Educator and Certified Healthcare Simulation Educator.
The center also provides support services for faculty to conduct educational research on their simulation and skills activities for conference and journal submissions.
In addition, the LEAP Center offers American Heart Association Basic Life Support (CPR), First Aid and AHA BLS Instructor Courses to UT Austin employees, students and community health care professionals who require certification for employment. Learn more about the list of compliance certification courses offered by the LEAP Center.
Goldstein received two nursing innovation grants, one as co-investigator in 2015, and one as primary investigator in 2017, totaling nearly $350,000, funded by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, to make improvements to the School of Nursing’s simulation and skills center so the school could increase the use of clinical simulation.
The Simulation and Skills Center (SSC) is a state-of-the-art nursing educational facility that incorporates simulated, realistic learning experiences into the instruction of nursing students. SSC provides a safe learning environment for students to practice and demonstrate various nursing skills.
The learning environment improves students’ psychomotor, physical assessment and critical thinking skills necessary for clinical performance. Students gain hands-on practice with the equipment and techniques they will need for the practice setting. SSC Lab Director Nicole Manley, MSN, RN, CA-SANE, educates faculty about simulation best practices.
Goldstein’s final project for the SSC was implementing a virtual reality (VR) clinical simulation program. With the help of the SSC director, graduate students and faculty, the VR program grew from being implemented in two courses in Spring 2023 to eight courses in Spring 2024.
During their nursing program, students will complete over 40 hours of simulation, averaging three simulations weekly for clinical and skills courses and three skills classes weekly. Over 3,200 simulation hours are completed each semester.
The next chapter
Goldstein, who left the School of Nursing to be closer to family, accepted a tenure-track position at Towson University near Baltimore. She will be investigating different ways to use her video performance exam model to enhance students’ transition to practice after graduation.
Reflecting, in April, on her time at the School of Nursing, Goldstein said, “I’ve been part of the nursing program in some capacity for 15 years. But I’m excited because I’m going to be close to my daughter. I will have the opportunity to conduct research and be more active in professional organizations in the D.C. area. I’m excited to be able to be part of my daughter’s life, and I want to be there for her. But I will always be a Longhorn nurse and take all my memories with me.”
Move to video
Goldstein said her biggest accomplishment during her time at the School of Nursing was the LEAP Center, but as a teacher, her legacy is implementing an innovative model for summative testing, the video performance exams (VPE).
Goldstein describes the VPE as a fair way to help students learn essential high-risk nursing skills in a peer-to-peer environment that fosters mastery of the skills while reducing performance stress.
The traditional way to test psychomotor nursing skills, such as starting IVs, is in person, where the student performs in front of a faculty member, getting two chances to pass or they would fail. Goldstein said some students are naturally gifted in their ability to complete tasks with their hands and some aren’t, so requiring this type of summative exam didn’t create a fair opportunity for all students.
This testing method risks students cramming, leading to difficulty replicating skills in practice. High anxiety and stress during tests hinder skill retention due to the fight-or-flight response.
The VPE is a peer-to-peer video performance exam where a pair of students take turns performing and grading. The students then switch roles. They then must grade their work to judge if it is worthy to submit.
They have multiple recording attempts over a designated period of time, which helps them master the skill. For example, the medication administration exam allows four weeks of opportunity to practice and test.
Students choose which performance to submit for grading, using various learning styles to suit their needs. This self-directed approach enhances their readiness for clinical practice.
“The students have a joint interest in each other’s success,” Goldstein said. “And they’re hooked together, so nobody passes until they both do. There’s peer teaching, there’s social learning and then they must grade themselves before they submit their work. It’s fair and students typically do great.”
According to Goldstein, the skills tested are areas hospitals focus on, such as sterility, infection prevention and safe medication administration. Focusing on these skills in school is important so students enter the hospitals knowing how to perform them correctly.
In 2015, Goldstein received a $50,000 grant, funded by the UT Center for Teaching and Learning, for her program “Nursing Student Skill Mastery using Video, Peer Teaching and Constructive Critique,” which was fully implemented in 2016.
Goldstein was invited to the Norwegian University of Science and Technology Norway to be the keynote speaker at a conference to present the VPE exams to help them implement a version of video performance exams in their anesthesia program.
Five professors from the Norwegian school also visited the School of Nursing to explore the VPE process and tour the Simulation and Skills Lab before Goldstein’s visit. This summer, she visited King’s College London to see her video performance exams in action by a faculty member Goldstein mentored, who recently completed her master’s degree.
Reflections on the journey
Over the years, Goldstein has seen several of her former students become nurse anesthetists, nurse practitioners, researchers and fellow faculty. She says she feels fortunate to have been part of their professional growth and watch the careers of former students who had a strong foundational education and took it to the next level.
Goldstein said she hopes the students she’s taught over the years remember her dedication to their learning and success and the School of Nursing faculty feel like she supported their teaching and helped them secure the tools to teach and to teach more effectively.
“I love the students, and I am passionate about nursing,” Goldstein said. “I think that is my goal. I found out early on that I could take care of more patients through my students than I could by myself. I want the patients to get the best possible care. The program at the School of Nursing is rigorous, and the students receive a well-rounded education and practical experience that sets them up for professional success.”
Her best memories from the School of Nursing are all from her students, she says. Goldstein’s favorites include those who came to the School from underserved, underrepresented areas. She watched these students work full-time, in addition to being full-time students, work hard to be at the School and sometimes not have enough money to eat or pay rent.
Goldstein said it was an honor to see these students work hard and graduate knowing they trusted her to help them get there.
“I’ve always talked about nursing school as a journey, and we start a journey by putting two feet on the ground and moving forward,” Goldstein said. “And I think that wherever you want to go, the best way to go is just to start the journey, and then, as you reach your goals, you can branch off and create new ones to continue your journey.”