INNOVATIVE NURSE EDUCATOR SUMMIT
A free virtual event to discover inventive teaching strategies that will spark student engagement and fuel your growth as a confident and creative nurse educator.
October 27-29, 2026
*Option to earn 7.0 CE Credits for this event upon registration
Say goodbye to zoned-out students and boring lectures.
This event will help you reignite the spark in your teaching.
Keeping students engaged is one of the hardest, most persistent challenges in nursing education.
Nurse educators are already doing so much to close this gap from sharing ideas more openly, supporting new faculty in fresh ways, and rethinking how to prepare students for the realities of practice beyond the Next-Gen NCLEX.
But the day-to-day workload leaves little room for reinvention. Between clinical prep, grading, and meetings, there's rarely time left to build something new, even when you know your students need more than a slide deck to stay with you.
You're up against some real challenges …
TIME
Between clinical prep, meetings, email, and grading, there's rarely a spare minute left to create something new.
IDEAS
You want to use tools and teaching techniques that help students think like nurses, not just memorize symptoms or interventions.
ENERGY
Another Kahoot? You're ready for something more inventive, but building it from scratch, on top of everything else, is exhausting.
Getting to an engaged, active classroom can feel overwhelming, but you don’t have to do it alone.
Make this the year your classroom feels more engaged, more inspired, and more aligned with you.
Students who lean in instead of zone out.
When students do, discuss, and solve (instead of just listening), they're more alert, more curious, and more invested in their own learning. The Active Learning Ideas and Clinical Teaching Tools tracks give you ready-to-use tools that let students involve their whole self and stay present no matter how long your class or clinical is.
Teaching that feels aligned with your values around learning.
You became an educator because you love teaching, not to rush through slides. The Sustainable Teaching track pairs the human side of teaching, empathy, storytelling, meaningful conversation, with real structures for protecting your energy. This track helps you recognize your own capacity, build reusable systems, and set goals designed to prevent burnout rather than add to it.
Ideas that flow instead of frustrate.
Active learning doesn’t mean reinventing every activity or flipping your entire classroom at once. The Instructional Design and Alternative Grading Exploration tracks focus on small, incremental changes and practical tools that will leave you feeling inspired, not overwhelmed.
Build clinical judgment with intention.
Active learning prepares students for more than a passing exam. When your classroom, clinical, and lab mirror the real challenges of practice, students build the confidence, curiosity, and clinical reasoning they'll carry to the bedside and to the Next-Gen NCLEX.
Join us for the Innovative Nurse Educator Summit today!
Over three days, 17 experts will inspire you with new teaching tools and innovative techniques to turn overwhelm into momentum, giving you practical tools you can use right away.
Event Schedule
Live Kick-Off Call
Tuesday, October 27th
8:30am Central | Welcome + Orientation
Day One
Tuesday, October 27th
Gina Panozzo, DNP,
RN-PMH-BC, CNE
Mastering the Matrix: Designing an LMS That Works for Faculty and Students
Stacie A. Dee, DNP,
FPMHNP-BC, CNE
From Skeptic to Advocate:
A Faculty AI Journey
Megan McDowell, DNP,
MSN, RN, CNE
From Clinical Chaos to Clinical Clarity: Using Technology to Transform Clinical Education
Stormi Hatfield, MSN, RN &
Krista Turner, MSN, RN, CHSE
Bring Simulation to the Skills Lab: Low-Cost Strategies for Active Learning & Immersion
Dana Smith, MSN, RN,
CEN, CNE, CNEcl
Capacity Before Content:
From Invisible Load to Intentional Presence
Martha Johnson, MSN, RN
Failure as a Teaching Tool
and
Just In Time Clinical Feedback: 10 small changes to save you hours
Laura Vogelsang, PhD, RN &
Rebecca Merkle, BN, RN
Pills and Priorities: In Full Bloom
Natasha Nurse-Clarke, PhD, RN, FAAN
Using Gamification to Teach, Practice, and Assess
Day Two
Wednesday, October 28th
Tracey Long, PhD, MS, MSN, APRN-BC, CDCES, CNE, CCRN
Steal My Toolkit: 10 Innovative Ideas for Nurse Educators
Starr Sackstein, MS.Ed, NBCT
High Leverage Checks for Understanding that Ensure Students "Get it"
Martha Johnson, MSN, RN
Play, Power, People: A Better Way to Set Goals as a Nurse Educator
Echo Rivera, PhD
Teaching with Video: What Actually Matters (and what doesn't)
Hannah Pope, DNP, RN, CNE
Level Up Lab: Patient-Centered Scenarios to Promote Clinical Judgment in Foundations
and
Beyond the Care Plan: Using a Concept Map to Develop Clinical Judgment in Foundations Students
Day Three
Thursday, October 29th
Emily Pitts Donahoe, PhD
Evaluation for Professionalization: Transforming Students into Nurses with Alternative Grading
Norman Eng, Ed.D
Increase Student Participation with the Shared Discussion Document
Martha Johnson MSN, RN
Using a Project Plan as a Nurse Educator
and
Recharge On Purpose: Using Your Play Personality to Prevent Burnout
Olivia Livernois, MSN, FNP-BC
DDx by Sketchy demo: AI-enabled clinical simulation for nursing education
Nancy Schaeffer, MEd, BSN, RN
Critical Hits and Clinical Judgment: A dice-rolling campaign using gamification and unfolding case studies to build clinical judgment
Robert Talbert, Ph.D.
Feedback Loops: The Foundation for Grading for Growth
Cathy Parkes BSN, RN,
CWCN, PHN
Clinical Judgment: Getting Students Practice Ready
Meet the Host
Hey there! I’m Martha.
When I was a new educator, my first theory course was heavy on PowerPoint slides and scripted lectures. I knew it wasn’t how I wanted to teach, but I didn’t know what else to do.
Over time, I discovered an active learning, student-centered approach. I saw students perk up, speak up, and start connecting classroom content to clinical care in ways that stuck.
I started BreakoutRN to help other nurse educators make that same shift without the overwhelm. I truly believe that you don’t have to overhaul your entire course. Just start with one activity at a time.
This summit supports that step-by-step approach. You’ll leave with practical tools, fresh ideas, and ready-to-use resources to boost engagement and help you lead your classroom with confidence.
Kind Words from Kind Educators
What to expect
When & Where
The summit will run October 27-29th. See the schedule below for each presentation date and time.
The event is virtual, so you can join from anywhere with internet access.
Expert Sessions
Attend 17 expert-led sessions across 5 tracks that include active learning tools, clinical teaching techniques, alternative grading practices, instructional design, and sustainable teaching practices.
Presentations are about 20 minutes long. Nice and concise, so you can get practical information and put it into action immediately!
No Registration Fee!
There is no cost to attend the summit: it’s free!
Private Community
You’ll also have access to a private Slack community during the summit. Here, we’ll connect before the event, share additional ideas during the event, and continue to offer support to help you implement these ideas after the event.
Chances to Win!
Enter to win prizes and giveaways by simply engaging with the community.
Optional upgrade!
Nurse Educator Toolkit
With so many amazing presentations, you may wonder how to fit them all in. Well, you don’t have to!
After registering, you will have the option to upgrade your ticket to the Nurse Educator Toolkit. This includes six-month access to all the presentations, a private podcast, additional worksheets and templates, 7.0 CE credits, and the amazing bonuses from our speakers!
Nurse Educator Toolkit
The Nurse Educator Toolkit gives you ongoing access to every presentation, 7.0 CE credits, and an exclusive collection of resources from our speakers, including worksheets, courses, membership trials, and more. Register now to see everything included.
Why the Innovative Nurse Educator Summit?
Because sparking real student engagement shouldn't mean burning yourself out to get there.
Teaching nursing is demanding, and you're already stretched thin. The Innovative Nurse Educator Summit brings you inventive, sustainable teaching strategies that spark engagement and help you lead your classroom with confidence and creativity. These strategies are ready to use, saving you the time it takes to build something from scratch.
Your schedule is hectic, and you have more work than there is time in the day …
But this summit's schedule fits your busy work schedule. With your free ticket, you will have 48 hours to watch or listen to the presentation and walk away with practical, easy-to-implement tools you can use right away.
The Innovative Nurse Educator Summit
will give you creative teaching tools to increase student engagement and confidently lead an active learning classroom.
IT’S TIME TO…
Stop feeling overwhelmed by the thought of starting a flipped classroom from scratch.
Take small steps toward an active learning classroom with confidence.
Use proven techniques that strengthen clinical judgment and spark real student engagement
Frequently Asked Questions
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We are excited to welcome our partners in nursing practice as well. Any nurse educator, regardless of where you practice, is welcome to attend. The focus will be on educational best practices that can be applied to a variety of settings.
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Once you sign up, you will have the option to purchase the 7.0 CE credits available fro this event. The live sessions will be recorded and you will have six months to access them, complete the evaluation, and earn the credits.
CE credits are also available inside of the Nurse Educator Toolkit, a collection of amazing resources from the speakers.
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Each speaker presentation will be available for 48 hours after it goes live.
However, you can purchase the Nurse Educator Toolkit to get ongoing access to all of the videos and workbooks, as well as 7.0 CE credits, along with other amazing bonuses from the speakers! -
No. When you register, you will be added to the summit email list so I can send you updates for the event and the links to speaker presentations.
After the summit, you'll continue to hear from us, but you can unsubscribe anytime.
Speakers may have a free resource available that you can access by providing an email address, but the speaker will not get your email unless you choose to give it to them specifically. This way, you will only hear from the people you are truly interested in connecting with online.
Learn more in our Privacy Policy.
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The recorded presentations will be available for 48 hours after they go live with your free ticket.
If you are unable to attend the live sessions, you can upgrade to the Nurse Educator Toolkit to gain 6-month access to recordings of the live sessions. This is available after you sign up for your free ticket.
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Yes! All presentations have closed captioning.
Please reach out if there’s anything we can do to ensure you can enjoy this event.
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No problem! If you still have questions, I will encourage you to go ahead and sign up. Your question will likely be answered during the event or in the community, which you will be able to join right away.
However, if you need to ask a question before registering, feel free to send me an email at hello@breakoutrn.com.
Get Your FREE Ticket
Click the button below to get your ticket and join us for the Innovative Nurse Educator Summit, and start building an active learning classroom.
Their support helps us bring practical, ready-to-use teaching ideas to busy educators at no cost.
➡️ Learn More about DDx by Sketchy