Colleen Meakim

Persons with Disability: Their Experiences as Standardized Patients in an Undergraduate Nursing Program

&NA; This descriptive qualitative study examined experiences of standardized patients with disabilities (SPWDs) in an undergraduate nursing program through focus group and telephone interviews. Content analysis identified five themes: 1) desire to improve care for others, 2) opportunity to be productive again, 3) joy in seeing students learn, 4) desire for more feedback on performance, and 5) importance of having SPWDs assess accessibility of the facility. SPWDs participated to improve sensitivity of students to disability and appreciated having a voice in educating future nurses. They requested more feedback on their performance and identified accessibility issues in the state‐of‐the‐art nursing school building.

Development of Formative Capstone Simulations to Prepare Novice Students for Initial Clinical Practicum.

BACKGROUND Nursing students often describe initial clinical experiences as extremely anxiety producing. Anxiety can decrease performance ability and, consequently, increase the risk for patient harm. Strategies to decrease this anxiety related to clinical experiences are limited within the nursing education literature. METHOD Faculty in a 4-year baccalaureate nursing program developed and implemented formative capstone simulation scenarios with standardized patients, integrating therapeutic communication, essential patient care skills, and clinical reasoning for novice nursing students prior to their entry into their first clinical practicum. This article discusses the rationale, development, and implementation of these formative capstone simulation scenarios. RESULTS Anecdotal student and faculty comments related to the formative capstone simulation scenarios were positive. CONCLUSIONS Formative capstone simulation scenarios offer a method to prepare novice students for initial clinical practicum that is well received. Research is needed to formally examine the relationship between formative capstone simulation scenarios and student anxiety related to initial clinical practicum. [J Nurs Educ. 2016;55(10):587-589.].

Transitional Care Experience in Home Health: Exposing Students to Care Transitions through Scenarios and Simulation

Abstract Chronically ill older adults are at risk for avoidable adverse events especially during care transitions, the transfer to one care setting or one level of care to another. Because of the expected increase in the older adult population, increased demand for transitional care is anticipated. Despite the consistent call for expanded competencies in care transitions, nursing education has not incorporated these concepts into nursing curricula. To fill this gap, Villanova University developed patient care scenarios and simulations incorporating standardized patients to demonstrate the needs, risks, and potential complications associated with transitioning patients from acute care to home.