Sun6 - Elevating Student Experiences Through a Six-Hour Unfolding Simulation

Abstract :

Background: Simulation is common in nursing curriculum to enhance clinical learning. Longer timeframes for students in a simulated environment is believed to contribute to student fatigue, loss of interest, decreased engagement, and cognitive overload.

Purpose: A 6-hour simulation was implemented to fill a gap in clinical hours needed for an undergraduate medical-surgical nursing clinical course.

Conceptual Framework: The Healthcare Simulation Standards of Best Practice (HSSOBP), Tanner’s Clinical Judgment Model (for debriefing), and the NLN/Jeffries Simulation Framework were utilized when developing the simulation scenarios.

Project

Description: A progression of three simulations was used to demonstrate how one patient’s situation can develop into a series of events based on the patient’s comorbidities. Learners rotated roles throughout the simulations. Debriefing followed each of the three simulations.

Setting: Each clinical day, nine undergraduate BSN students, in their 2nd semester, either participated or were in the observer role and documented assessments and nursing actions.

Results: Students were able to see how patient situations evolve during their hospitalization, make connections, and critically think about disease progression.

Discussion: Using the concept of two (three) heads are better than one (2HeadsR>1) contributed to students reporting the experience as being enlightening and fun while seeing it as a real-life situation.

Conclusion: Extended simulation knowledge was not found within the literature but was an effective method for student learning. To advance the simulation experience, more opportunities for extended simulations are needed to experience a realistic change of events that may not be seen in a clinical rotation.

Please include a short summary of your presentation that highlights why an attendee would want to participate in your session.: Discover how a 6-hour unfolding simulation was a fun and enlightening experience for students. In this presentation, you will learn how to ensure students are able to stay actively engaged in the simulation world, while enhancing skill development, making connections through critical thinking, and where students reported feeling like it was a real-life setting in a simulated environment.