“Sim”sational Revelations

In an effort to decrease subjectivity and to accurately assess students' clinical abilities, nursing faculty from a baccalaureate nursing program in central Minnesota created an innovative approach to clinical evaluation using simulation technology. Faculty from two junior-level clinical courses collaborated to create a single simulation scenario using SimMan® in order to evaluate critical nursing concepts from each clinical course. Results from this simulation exercise discredited previous assumptions made by clinical instructors about students' abilities and exposed critical deficiencies in students' decision-making in the simulated clinical setting. Details related to the development and implementation of the simulation exercise as well as insights gained by students and faculty are discussed.