Simulation and Faculty Time Investment

BackgroundLittle has been reported in the literature about the time it takes nursing faculty to become comfortable utilizing technologically advanced equipment for teaching in the curriculum. The purpose of this survey was to determine the amount of time faculty members in an undergraduate nursing program perceived it would take for them to plan, implement, and evaluate the use of the Laerdal Medical Corporation's SimMan to teach clinical nursing skills in courses they were involved in.MethodThis was a small descriptive study conducted at a Midwestern college of nursing. The choices for full time equivalent (FTE) release for one semester were .25, .50, .75, and 1.0.ResultsThe majority (55.2%) of the faculty members perceived it would require .50 FTE release time to plan for the utilization of simulation, and a near majority (44.8%) of the faculty members perceived it would require .50 FTE release time to implement high-fidelity simulation into nursing courses. Finally, the majority (60.7%) of the faculty members perceived it would require .25 FTE release time to evaluate the use of high-fidelity simulation in nursing courses.