Paper
Friday, 21 July 2006
This presentation is part of : Education Initiatives to Foster Evidence-Based Nursing
A Collaborative Regional Simulation Center: A Framework for Evidence-Based Competence
Susan Sportsman, RN, PhD, Nursing, Midwestern State University, Wichita Falls, TX, USA, Robin Lockhart, RN, MSN, Wilson School of Nursing, Midwestern State University, Wichita Falls, TX, USA, and Molly Lee, RN, MSN, North Central Texas Health Care Consortium, Midwestern State University, Wichita Falls, TX, USA.
Learning Objective #1: describe the process of developing evidence-based clinical scenarios for high fidelity patient simulation equipment to evaluate clinical competency of nursing staff and students.
Learning Objective #2: assess the effectiveness of a collaborative regional simulation center in providing competency education and validation for nursing staff and students.
Two related problems plague nursing education.  The shortage of nursing faculty limits the number of graduates available to work in the increasingly complex health care delivery system.  Those who do graduate have little opportunity during the educational process to provide care in high risk situations, requiring critical thinking.  As a result, they are often inadequately prepared to meet the challenges inherent in the nursing role in the acute care setting.

Both the faculty shortage and the lack of clinical competency have been addressed by the development of a collaborative Regional Simulation Center using high fidelity patient simulation equipment.  The proposed oral or poster presentation will describe the development and two year implementation of such a center, sponsored by a university, a community college and a regional medical center.  The center, equipped with six high fidelity patient simulators and staffed with BSN-prepared nurses who serve as extenders for the nursing faculty, provides competency education and evaluation for baccalaureate and associate degree students and hospital personnel. Clinical scenarios based on evidence-based practice are the educational framework used for determining participants’ clinical competence.  Strategies to develop the clinical scenarios and competency evaluation instruments will be discussed and lessons learned will be highlighted. 

See more of Education Initiatives to Foster Evidence-Based Nursing
See more of The 17th International Nursing Research Congress Focusing on Evidence-Based Practice (19-22 July 2006)