As the acceptance of nursing simulation has grown the conversation has changed from “Can we use clinical hours?” to “How can we best use simulation?” With the results of the NCSBN National Simulation Study (Hayden et al, 2014), the focus for incorporation of simulation into the graduate nursing program has grown. As the use of graduate nursing simulation, the need for quality resources to guide nurse practitioner faculty is present. The Healthcare Simulation Standards of Best Practice (2021) by INACSL and the Association of Standardized Patient Educators (ASPE) Standards of Best Practice provide guides to develop, implement, facilitate, and evaluate healthcare simulations. This HealthySimulation.com article by Teresa Gore, PhD, DNP, APRN, FNP-BC, CHSE-A, FSSH, FAAN, will collate available resources for those involved in graduate nursing education and clinical simulation.
National Organization for Nurse Practitioner Faculties (NONPF) Simulation Guidelines & Best Practices for Nurse Practitioner Program
The National Organizations of Nurse Practitioner Faculties (NONPF) recognizes the need for clear nurse practitioner (NP) program simulation guidelines. In June 2019, the NONPF Board of Directors appointed a 17-member simulation committee, which recommended creating guidelines and resources for NP faculty education to support and guide simulation education. This document is a culmination of the committee’s work and experience to date. This living document evolves with the expansion of evidence-based practice.
The purpose of this document, National Organization for Nurse Practitioner Faculties (NONPF)Simulation Guidelines & Best Practices for Nurse Practitioner Program, is to provide essential guidance for NP faculty seeking to create excellence in delivering simulation-based learning experiences. In addition, the document can assist NP programs faculty by standardizing and sustaining NP education to advance the science of simulation.
This document provides NP educators with a structured approach to the major aspects of simulation. Each section explores the elements and guidelines for best practice and offers direction for NP educators delivering high-level evidence-based simulation. These simulation guidelines, which are a collection of best practices, provide vital resources to aid in NP educators’ implementation of simulation activities.
National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculty (NONPF) Guide to Developing Simulations: A Practical Step-By-Step Approach (2023)
Delivering a quality simulation, where learner outcomes clearly address designed learning objectives, is a complex process that impacts multiple stakeholders. NONPF’s Guide to Nurse Practitioner Simulations: A Step-By-Step Approach, is formatted to help NP faculty design effective and measurable simulations that address learner, programmatic, and national level competencies. The work will be organized using the national standards for simulation described in the Healthcare Simulation Standards of Best PracticeTM published by the International Nursing Association for Clinical Simulation and Learning (INACSL Standards Committee, Watts, Rosler, et al., 2021) and the National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties (NONPF) Simulation Guidelines and Best Practices for Nurse Practitioner Programs (Lioce, Conelius, et al., 2020).
The objectives of this book are:
- Provide an overview of simulation design for nurse practitioner (NP) simulations.
- Prepare the novice NP educator to use templates for simulation design.
- Review the purpose of a simulation template in case design.
- Discuss how a simulation template is used to communicate simulation components to multiple stakeholders.
A Practical Guide for Nurse Practitioner Faculty Using Simulation in Competency-Based Education
Authored by expert simulation researchers, educators, nurse practitioner faculty, and clinicians, A Practical Guide for Nurse Practitioner Faculty Using Simulation in Competency-Based Education looks at topics related to simulation design, development, and implementation for nurse practitioner and other graduate-level nursing programs.
The new educational requirements based on the AACN Essentials and move to competency-based outcomes require nursing graduates to provide documented skill competencies to care for all types of patients in all types of diverse healthcare settings. Whether a graduate is working in acute care, primary care, or within the community, clinical simulations serve as a vital approach to creating student-centered, experiential learning that engages and prepares the graduate for real-world practice.
Once the exception, clinical simulations are becoming more commonplace in nurse practitioner programs. This book supports nurse practitioner faculty as they learn new pedagogy and teaching strategies using clinical simulations. It focuses on developing and preparing nurse educators and superusers of simulations as they create, implement, and evaluate this pedagogy in nurse practitioner education.
Simulation Scenarios for Nurse Practitioner Educators: A Faculty Guide
Simulation provides a safe environment for students to practice clinical and communication skills needed in advanced practice nursing. Faculty at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (UTC) formally incorporated simulation into the nurse practitioner (NP) program curriculum. This project was made possible by a Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), Advanced Nursing Education Workforce (ANEW) grant. Before the grant, simulation was utilized in multiple courses. However, logistics, briefings, scenarios, fidelity, feedback, assessments, and evaluations varied among courses and faculty members. The UTC NP simulation program was developed utilizing the Healthcare Simulation Standards of Best Practice, Simulation Guidelines and Best Practices for Nurse Practitioner Programs, and the Association of Standardized Patient Educators (ASPE) Standards of Best Practice (SOBP) (International Nursing Association for Clinical Simulation and Learning [INACSL], 2021; Lewis, 2017; Lioce et al., 2020a). The 15 simulation scenarios were developed and integrated into the UTC NP program curriculum plan to ensure consistency and standardization across faculty members and cohorts.
The purpose of this text, Simulation Scenarios for Nurse Practitioner Educators: A Faculty Guide, is to share the logistics and scenarios of the UTC NP simulation program so that other NP programs can implement similar plans. This text provides 15 complete simulation scenarios in a template format for the following populations: pediatric, women, and adult. Also included in this text are how to conduct pre-briefing and debriefing sessions, faculty planning for pre- and postsimulation, faculty and student evaluation tools, and incorporating simulated patient actors (SPAs). It is the intent of the authors that those using this text will be able to incorporate the simulation scenarios and other content into their NP programs to help students meet learning objectives and practice clinical and communication skills using a variety of patient situations.
Clinical Simulations for the Advanced Practice Nurse: A Comprehensive Guide for Faculty, Students, and Simulation Staff
The book, Clinical Simulations for the Advanced Practice Nurse: A Comprehensive Guide for Faculty, Students, and Simulation Staff, provides high-quality, comprehensive simulation scenarios for APRNs. This invaluable resource is the first simulation guide designed specifically to support the training and evaluation of advanced practice nursing students, novice nurse practitioners, and advanced practice nurses transitioning to new fields. This book provides a method and foundation to transform graduate nursing education to competency-based clinical evaluation, empowering programs with standardized templates and interprofessional education options for each scenario to advance graduate simulation education and research.
This comprehensive guide delivers more than 50 comprehensive simulation scenarios, written by experienced APRNs, faculty, and simulation specialists. Scenarios are arranged by APRN specialty with applications for students, faculty, standardized patients, staff development, and simulation staff who prepare the advanced practice nurse and their interprofessional team for clinical practice. Not only is this text easy for faculty to use and implement, it also includes several levels of application and offers strategies for adapting scenarios to an interprofessional setting.
Each simulation is structured into a consistent template for ease of use, which includes a description, objectives, equipment needed, pre-briefing, debriefing, and interprofessional considerations. Additionally, each scenario includes a one-page download designed for the Simulation Team focusing on “what happens” in a particular scenario. These comprehensive simulations encompass a wide variety of physical health and mental health scenarios across the lifespan as well as telehealth, critical care transport, and retail scenarios.
Three detailed sections dedicated to APRN students, faculty, and simulation staff provide timely topics and sound advice from recent graduates, faculty experts, and leaders in the simulation field. The section for students provides anticipatory guidance for novice practitioners on how best to prepare for formative and summative evaluations, standardized patient patient interactions, high-stakes simulation testing, and interprofessional experiences. The section for faculty provides practical information on how to design engaging simulation experiences for the APRN, and suggestions on mapping the various modes of simulation experiences to various levels and competencies. A detailed section directed to the simulations team covers operations and management of the environment, personnel, equipment, and resources.
The key features of this book are:
- Provides 10 Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) standard scenarios for general advanced practice assessment
- Contains more than 50 comprehensive simulation scenarios, arranged by APRN specialty for formative, summative, and high-stakes testing and competency evaluations
- Consistent with INACSL and SSH Simulation Standards of Best Practice and NLN Simulation Theory by Pamela Jeffries
- Maps simulation experiences to APRN learner levels and AACN competencies
- Includes separate sections tailored towards APRN students, APRN faculty and staff development, and the simulation operational team
- Delineates and provides hyperlinks for suggested learner preparation and the most up-to-date references to support each scenario
Virtual Simulation Options for Nurse Practitioner Students
The National League for Nursing (NLN) gratefully acknowledges a table of virtual simulation options resource for nurse practitioner students compiled by Jenny O’Rourke, PhD, APN-BC, CHSE. The NLN has other resources for nurse faculty including graduate school faculty. NLN has the NLN Simulation Innovation Resource Center (SIRC) website, simulation research study tools, HomeGrown Solutions, and NLN Leadership Development for Simulation Educators Program to guide professional development for those involved in nursing simulation.
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