Learning Objective #1: Discuss the role of simulation in teaching and learning leadership and management in nursing

Learning Objective #2: Discuss the development of a leadership and management simulation module and determine effectiveness

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Simulation has been used and found effective for teaching clinical skills. However, there is very little in the literature on whether or not simulation is as effective a strategy for teaching leadership and management skills.

The Far Eastern University Institute of Nursing (FEU-IN) has pioneered an innovative simulation program for teaching non-clinical skills. The first and only one of its kind in the Philippines, the FEU-IN Virtual Integrated Nursing Education Simulation (VINES) Laboratory became the setting of the first simulation program for the clinical experience component of the course Nursing Leadership and Management.

The Leadership and Management Simulation Course includes the use of simulations, case studies, and patient care scenarios to approximate management situations in a safe and no-harm manner. The iterative nature of simulation also serves to ensure that students are able to go over difficult-to-master skills again and again, each time enhancing and reinforcing the skills.

Three groups of students were compared: a group exposed to the Leadership and Management Simulation Course, a group exposed to a real unit in a government hospital and a group exposed to a real unit in a private hospital.

The First-Line Manager Competency Inventory (Dalao, 2006) was used for evaluation purposes at the end of the rotation. The tool is a 65-item questionnaire adapted and modified from Sperry's (2003) Self-Assessment of Essential Leadership Skills. The instrument is broken down into 13 sub-sections representing the 13 first-line manager competencies.

The study showed the significant differences in the First-Line Manager Competencies between the nursing students who underwent the simulated experience in the VINES and those who were exposed to real live situations, with those who acquired the simulated experience manifesting significantly higher assessments of their leadership skills. This pioneering study demonstrates that simulation shows promise as a new strategy for teaching administrative skills.