Innovating Education Through POP‑UP Learning
Lisa Ricker, NP, continues to push the boundaries of SIM making Lo-Fi, Hi-Fi
The Teaching Academy is proud to highlight the work of scholar Lisa Ricker, whose dedication to rapid response, clinical education, and team-based learning continues to transform care at Vassar Brothers Medical Center (VBMC).
Lisa has built a career around improving patient outcomes through education—from launching VBMC’s Rapid Response Team in 2006 (which cut Code Blue rates by 50% in just two months) to developing and managing the hospital’s Medical Step‑Down Unit, where she fosters collaboration between residents and nurses. Lisa joined the Teaching Academy in 2022, bringing her passion for hands‑on learning and system improvement.
POP‑UP Education: Meeting Learners Where They Are
Read how Lisa Ricker used support from PATMDTA to advance her project “Development of ‘POP UP’ Education Program in a Medical Step‑Down Unit,” featured at the 2023 PATMDTA Grand Rounds & Academic Symposium.
“Residents and nurses have many things in common, the most obvious of these is lack of time to fully participate in teaching activities. Making this observation I saw an opportunity to create Pop-up classes. Allowing point of contact organized educational opportunities with clear learning objectives. In my first year of the Teaching Academy, I created a kit for a mock code blue pop-up class and received positive feedback from learners. In my second year, I was granted the project support grant and was able to expand class offerings to 8 different topics. The grant allowed me to purchase necessary supplies to make this dream a reality.
I am continuing to grow the pop-up classes with positive feedback from learners. The next stage of this project is to create evaluation materials.”
POP-UP classes are an innovative approach to teaching classes with clear objectives and the flexibility to launch when time is available. The classes will meet the needs of the learner to accommodate different learning styles. The goal is to have multiple classes available to POP-UP at the appropriate time with learning objectives, equipment, reading material and evaluation tool. The first class is an acute cardiopulmonary (ACL) class with stimulation model, code cart, case scenarios and written material.
These classes are based on Blooms Taxonomy of Learning through engagement (why we are learning), representation (what we are learning) and action (how we are learning). POP UP classes can engage the residents and nurses to work as team. These classes can be repeated to the learner over time to activate the retrieval practice of learning.
The impact of these classes will be tracked by patient outcomes within MSDU, pre/post testing of the learner using the Objective Structured Clinical Examination Tool to assess knowledge and Self – Efficacy Scale to assess confidence. The classes will be adjusted based on these assessments.
Two Years Later: A Life Saved
Lisa reflects on how the project has shaped her work:
“Thank you for everything you do for me and everyone in the PATMDTA community. Because of your work, I am writing sim cases and teaching.
A Pulmonary fellow told me this:
He did not recognize a pneumothorax during my sim class. The patient had a cardiac arrest. (Remember, this was sim.) But a few days later, he responded to an emergency.
He recognized it was a pneumothorax, he knew what to do, and saved the person’s life.“
“You help me, so I can help him—and we saved a life.”
-Lisa Ricker, NP, MSDU Coordinator, RRT Coordinator, RRT Council Chair, at Vassar Brothers Medical Center
2022-2023 Clinician Educator Cohort
Want to get in touch, or interested in a POP- UP class? Reach out to lisa.ricker@nuvancehealth.org
Click to read her bio
A born and raised New Yorker, Lisa completed her Bachelor of Science in Nursing in 1993 at Mount Saint Mary’s College. After graduation, Lisa worked at NYU Tish Medical Center as a staff nurse. Seeking to grow further as a nurse, she enrolled in the NYU Nurse Practitioner Program in 1995. Lisa was awarded the NYU Nursing Excellence in 1996.
In 2000, as an Adult Nurse Practitioner, Lisa embraced a position to establish a Hospitalist Nurse Practitioner program at Vassar Brothers Medical Center (VBMC). At that time, this program would be the only one of its kind in all of Hudson Valley. Lisa was the first clinician hired and eventually became the Lead Hospitalist Nurse Practitioner.
In 2006, Lisa launched the Rapid Response Team (RRT) at VBMC. She developed educational playbooks and classes to facilitate the new venture. Under her direction, the VBMC RRT succeeded in reducing annual Code Blue rates by 50 percent within 2 months.
In 2021, Lisa joined the VBMC Critical Care department to develop and manage the new Medical Step-Down Unit. She is tasked with optimizing clinical outcomes and promoting a collaborative environment between nursing and physicians. Lisa was awarded the VBMC Medical Staff Honoree of the Month in December 2022.
In 2022, Lisa joined the Patricia A. Tietjen Teaching Academy as a scholar. She is developing a “POP UP” education classes for residents and nursing. These classes will be structure education with the ability to POP UP when the time is available. Her first class is ACLS review, with plans to expand to other topics in the future.
Lisa has many accomplishments as a Nurse Practitioner but her greatest accomplished is being a wife, daughter, and aunt. She lives in Port Ewen, NY with her husband and 2 cats. She will always be a New Yorker (still has her Queens accent!) but spends weekends in Vermont in her cabin. She and her husband enjoy the woods and watch the bears from their deck.
Support for Lisa’s project was provided by the Patricia A. Tietjen, MD Teaching Academy, which helps members advance innovative educational projects aligned with the Academy’s six educational pillars.