Schools of Nursing, Clinical Partners, and Alumni Collaborate for Senior Nursing Simulation Scenarios: A Theory-based Approach

Health care agencies have an increased need for entry-level nurses who are clinically competent and able to think critically in order to meet the complex patient care requirements for which they will be responsible. Prior to graduation, undergraduate senior nursing students frequently need further development of these critical thinking and clinical skills, and employers are seeking to hire those who are best prepared. The increased demand for competent graduates, combined with a shortage of clinical opportunities, means that schools of nursing must develop innovative educational approaches in conjunction with clinical partners. Clinical partners may include college of nursing alumni, agency staff nurses, and administrators who will meet both the learning needs of students and the resource needs of nursing employers. Human patient simulation is a teaching strategy increasingly used by schools of nursing to develop students' clinical competency and clinical judgment skills. At our college of nursing, faculty working with students just prior to graduation recognized an opportunity to use human patient simulators as a competency evaluation strategy as well. A commitment to effectively and creatively deal with the demands of clinical learning led faculty to collaborate with varied stakeholders to establish a theory-based approach to developing clinical scenario simulations using human patient simulators to prepare entry-level nurses.