Nursing Education Perspectives - Special Issue on Simulation in Nursing Education

[VickyRN, MSN, DNP, RN]

[color=#234c84]new york, ny-april 16, 2009-the national league for nursing has published a themed edition of its respected peer-reviewed, research journal, nursing education perspectives. the march-april issue of nep is devoted to simulation in nursing education, a hot topic among faculty these days for the promise it holds as a vehicle to transform classroom and clinical instruction.

"when i travel around the country, nurse educators tell me that they are eager for clinical redesign. new technologies and changing patient demographics require our graduates to work quickly, efficiently, and safely, and to think and act in ways that reach far beyond current practice realities," said nln president, elaine tagliareni, edd, rn, in her president's message to the edition. "how will we assist students to meet challenges that they may not encounter directly, but for which they must be prepared?" new simulation methodologies, she suggested, are key.

many of the scholarly articles in this special issue are based on the first national, multi-site, multi-method study to build the science related to the use of simulation in nursing education. the study was sponsored by the nln in 2007 with funding from laerdal medical corporation and directed by pamela jeffries, dns, rn, faan, anef, while she was associate dean of undergraduate programs in the school of nursing at university of indiana in indianapolis. dr. jeffries has since moved to john hopkins university school of nursing as associate dean of academic affairs.

with ever-evolving technologies that have made simulation an increasingly sophisticated tool, dr. jeffries had identified the need to investigate the science surrounding its practice in nursing education. at the study's conclusion, she noted, "simulation holds the promise to change faculty assumptions about how students learn and think and to become an essential teaching/assessment/ evaluation strategy in the education of nurses."

as a result of the study, a second nln grant, funded by laerdal medical, enabled nine simulation experts and eight international contributors to develop web-based courses to teach other educators about simulation design, implementation, and evaluation. in addition, a one-stop shopping website, the "simulation innovation resource center (sirc)," was created to serve as a resource center for educators using simulations to assist and support their work (http://sirc.nln.org/).

in her guest editorial in nep, dr. jeffries elaborated:

this special issue of

nursing education perspectives

comes at an opportune time as nurse educators incorporate simulations into the curriculum and explore new clinical models for nursing education...in this issue, readers will find articles to enrich their teaching practices, discover new teaching approaches using simulation pedagogy, and learn more about selected student learning outcomes when simulations are used?

the issue features studies that examine:

• high-fidelity simulation: factors correlated with nursing student satisfaction and self-confidence
• outcomes of clinical simulation for novice nursing students: communication, confidence, clinical judgment
• simulation as a means to foster collaborative interdisciplinary education
• learning advanced cardiac life support: a comparison study of the effects of low- and high-fidelity simulation
• nursing students' self-assessment of their simulation experiences
• simulation in end-of-life care
  
• creating simulation communities of practice: an international perspective
  

visit www.nln.org/nlnjournal for more information about the nln's journal and to browse the current issue.