A Partnership Approach to the Delivery and Evaluation of Clinical Simulation in the Nursing Curriculum: A Trans-Atlantic Perspective

Purpose: This session will enable session participants to explore how a unique and innovative partnership method, based upon collaborative experience at higher education institutions in the UK and USA can be used to develop nurse education and in particular will discuss how a partnership approach can be used to develop simulated clinical teaching to prepare nursing students for clinical practice using an evidence based approach. This presentation will demonstrate how the partnership of Birmingham City University (UK) and the University of Pittsburgh (USA) has optimized its collaboration and built upon the knowledge and insight gained from observations of the methods employed by colleagues and the sharing of resources to enhance the student experience. Students at the University of Pittsburgh engage with simulated clinical learning to prepare them for real clinical experiences. Birmingham City University was chosen as a pilot site by the UK nursing regulatory body, the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) to research the use of simulation to directly replace clinical practice hours for student nurses. Through a unique international collaboration the partners shared resources and evaluation tools to develop simulated clinical teaching.
Methods:  Through student, faculty and institutional evaluation, data was gathered on the impact of simulation upon the learning and teaching experience.

Results: The data finds enhanced student satisfaction and progression as a result of the interventions. The NMC (UK) has now ruled that up to 300 hours of clinical practice time of a 3 year undergraduate nursing programme may be replaced with simulated learning.
Conclusion: The findings demonstrate and illustrate how a successful model of international collaboration can enhance the student experience through technology and partnership. Subsequently, an exchange programme has now been developed to allow students from each partner institution to have trans-Atlantic experience of global healthcare issues and practices.