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ENHANCING CLINICAL COMPETENCY FOR NURSING STUDENTS THROUGH SIMULATION
The Nursing Education and Simulation Center (NESC) is a place for undergraduate and graduate nursing students to engage in immersive learning experiences designed to simulate real-world nursing and health care scenarios. The goal of the NESC is to provide nursing simulation within a dynamic yet controlled clinical environment for the development of psychomotor skills, clinical judgement and to build student confidence in their professional identity as nurses.
Nursing students are first introduced to simulation of realistic patient scenarios in their sophomore year. Emphasis is on communication with different health care disciplines and performance of fundamental nursing skills using hospital-grade equipment. These simulations are used to help students build confidence for the transition into nursing homes and hospitals, where they will care for real patients.
The higher-fidelity simulations, or more technical simulations, that senior and junior nursing students experience introduce more critical scenarios reflective of real-world hospital settings. The simulations are meant to challenge the students to think critically and to advocate for their patient when an event occurs. The scenarios cover pediatric, obstetric, medical surgical and mental health situations. Prework is assigned to ensure the students possess the knowledge and readiness for the day. Faculty and lab staff provide a pre-brief to the students, which orients them to the day and environment. Students navigate through the patient electronic record and then knock on the patient’s door and go to work. Students engage in assessing the patient/mannequin and the situation, and they interact with any (simulated) family members that may be involved.
The students debrief with their faculty or lab staff on the experience. Debrief takes place in a room that is considered a safe zone to openly discuss the action that took place during the simulation. It is a place for constructive feedback and reflection. These scenarios are typically recorded on video and may be reviewed to allow students an opportunity to enhance the learning outcomes within their nursing course. Aimee Bouchat (Class of 2024) states, “Simulation at The University of Scranton has acclimated me to a multitude of situations that I may face while in the clinical setting, while providing a safe and comfortable environment for growth.”
During their ICU clinical, seniors participate in a scenario with the graduate nurse anesthesia students who assist in leading a code on a patient having a myocardial infarction. The nurse anesthesia students intubate the patient while the BSN nursing students perform CPR and administer medications to keep the patient alive. Nurse anesthesia students conduct another simulation with our undergraduate nursing students during their obstetrics rotation. This scenario allows students to have an experience in our operating room (OR) suite where a patient in labor needs an epidural and then a cesarean section. Both scenarios help to build teamwork, communication and mutual respect, mirroring the interdisciplinary nature of modern health care practice.
Interprofessional Education (IPE) is another type of nursing simulation that the NESC facilitates. IPEs occur when students from two or more professions learn about, from and with each other to enable effective collaboration and improve health outcomes. One example is the online simulation with the Pharmacy College of Wilkes University that is reflective of a telehealth experience. This IPE focuses on communication among different health care providers, detection of mental health issues in the community and working together to help the patients get back on track with their lives.
Simulation in the Department of Nursing’s NESC is one example of how The University of Scranton equips our students with knowledge, skills and confidence to be compassionate and proficient Royal RNs. Thank you to both the Moses Taylor Foundation and Sanofi for their financial support of the NESC.
