Nursing Assignment: Simulated Learning Experiences

Discussion: Simulated Learning Experiences

"We really have to improve the teaching and upgrade the sciences in basic nurse education. We have a problem-classroom and clinical instruction are drifting too far apart. We need to integrate classroom and clinical learning much better. Clinical coaching in practice settings and simulations should correspond to knowledge gained in the classroom. The emphasis on simulation is going to be very useful in developing clinical imagination so that students can be more flexible and astute in their use of knowledge in practice."

-Patricia Benner, renowned nurse educator and author

Clinical imagination asks students to step outside of the [sometimes] ‘narrow box' of academia to develop multiple solutions to a situation. In the above quote, Patricia Benner notes how simulations can transition students from knowledge acquisition to knowledge use. However, in order for nurse educators to transform simulations into a teaching technique, they must make every effort to ensure the simulation technology is invisible. To do this, nurse educators should prepare students for the simulation by reiterating that that the goal is not how the simulation works, but rather the how the clinical process works. In addition, highlighting the clinical expertise, critical thinking, collaboration, and technical prowess needed during simulated clinical experiences (SCE) is the true key to bridging the gap between classroom and clinical instruction. Allowing focus to shift too much towards the simulation itself might cause learners to lose sight of the actual objectives of the lesson- thus failing to prepare them for the real demands and consequences of the health care environment.

To prepare

• Review this week's Learning Resources on simulated clinical experiences (SCE). Specifically, examine how each category of SCE (games, simulations, and simulation games) is tailored towards achieving a certain level of Bloom's Taxonomy or domain of learning.

• Reflect on your past learning experiences in both academic and clinical settings that did not include a simulation. For example, a specific class, lesson, group project, doctor's visit, or staff training might come to mind.

• Select one past learning experience to use for this Discussion. Then, identify the learning objectives that your Instructor or health care professional might have had in mind. In addition, identify the type of learning environment in which the lesson was conducted (on-site, online, hybrid).

• Consider how a specific SCE such as interactive games, virtual reality, task trainers (low-fidelity mannequins), human patient simulators (high-fidelity mannequins), etc. might have enhanced your learning during this experience.

• Conduct further research to learn more about a specific SCE technology that might achieve the same learning objectives of your selected learning experience.

Questions to be addressed in my paper: At least 2 pages

1. A brief description of your selected past learning experience, including the likely learning objectives and the learning environment.

2. Explain the type of simulation that might have enhanced your learning and why.

3. Describe how you could use this simulation to achieve the same objectives in a more meaningful way. Justify your response.

4. Summary/Conclusion

Reminders:

1. Put APA citations and references 2011 - 2016....

2. Put headings on each addressed question.

Required Readings

Bradshaw, M. J., & Lowenstein, A. J. (2011). Innovative teaching strategies in nursing and related health professions (5th ed.). Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett.

• Chapter 12, "Games Are Multidimensional in Educational Situation"

Educational games, also known as serious games, consist of a variety of types and formats. This chapter describes common gaming forms found in nursing classrooms.

• Chapter 14, "Human Patient Simulation"

Chapter 14 provides a brief historical overview of patient simulation and it gives considerations, best practices, and applied examples of simulations.

• Chapter 15, "The Nursing Skills Laboratory: Application of Theory, Teaching, and Technology"

Skills labs allow nursing students to practice a variety of clinical situations in simulated environments. Chapter 15 describes the use of these labs in nursing curriculum.

• Chapter 16, "Innovation in Facilitating Learning Using Simulation"

This chapter provides helpful strategies, insights, and research proven techniques for facilitating simulated experiences in the clinical laboratory.

Bristol, T. J., & Zerwekh, J. (2011). Essentials of e-learning for nurse educators. Philadelphia, PA: F.A. Davis Company.

• Chapter 16, "Simulation" (pp. 277-294)

Much like Chapter 14 in the Bradshaw and Lowenstein course text, this chapter begins with a brief examination of simulation in nursing. However, the majority of this chapter provides a detailed analysis of how, when, and why to incorporate simulations in nursing education.

Optional Resources

International Nursing Association for Clinical Simulation and Learning. (n.d.). Retrieved January 29, 2013, from http://www.inacsl.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=1

Simulation Innovation Resource Center. (n.d.). Retrieved January 29, 2013, from http://sirc.nln.org/

Society for Simulation in Healthcare. (n.d.). Retrieved January 29, 2013, from http://ssih.org