Tonya Rutherford-Hemming

Implementing the standards of best practice for simulation.

The Standards of Best Practice: Simulation are a resource for quality and consistency of simulation, evaluation of outcomes, and improvement of simulation programs. The Standards provide guidelines for practice and a vital framework for strategic planning, research, and faculty development. This article discusses challenges and shares approaches to enhance implementation of the Standards into practice to improve education, increase patient safety, and reduce variability in simulation experiences.

Using Simulation for Clinical Practice Hours in Nurse Practitioner Education in The United States: A Systematic Review

OBJECTIVES The National Organization for Nurse Practitioner Faculty (NONPF) does not allow simulation to be used in lieu of traditional clinical hours. The NONPF cites a lack of empirical evidence related to learning outcomes with simulation as rationale for its stance. The purpose of this systematic review was to search, extract, appraise, and synthesize research related to the use of simulation in Nurse Practitioner (NP) education in order to answer the two following questions: 1) What research related to simulation in NP education has emerged in the literature between 2010 and April 2015?, and 2) Of the research studies that have emerged, what level of Kirkpatricks Training Evaluation Model (1994) is evaluated? DESIGN This review was reported in line with Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA). DATA SOURCES A literature search was completed in PubMed and CINAHL using a combination of medical subject headings, or Mesh terms, as well as keywords to retrieve non-indexed citations. REVIEW METHODS The inclusion criteria for this review were broad in order to disseminate information on future research needed. The review considered studies related to NP education that included any form of simulation intervention, e.g. role-playing and standardized patients. The review considered studies that described original research, but no other design restrictions were imposed. The review was limited to studies published in the English language. RESULTS The database search strategy yielded 198 citations. These results were narrowed down to 15 studies based on identified inclusion criteria. CONCLUSIONS There is a lack of empirical evidence in the literature to support using simulation in lieu of direct patient care clinical hours in NP education. The evidence in this systematic review affirms NONPFs statement. Five years after the inception of NONPFs position statement, research to support learning outcomes with simulation in nurse practitioner education remains lacking. There is a need to produce rigorous scientific studies in the future in order to provide quantitative support to allow simulation to be counted as clinical hours in NP programs.

Multisite Single-Blinded Randomized Control Study of Transfer and Retention of Knowledge and Skill Between Nurses Using Simulation and Online Self-Study Module.

Introduction Obstetric (OB) nurses must be proficient in performing a basic neurologic examination to assess and detect changes in a patients’ neurologic status. This study aimed to compare knowledge and skill acquisition for a basic neurologic examination between OB nurses who participated in simulation and those who participated in an online self-study module. Short- and long-term knowledge retention and skill transfer between groups were evaluated. Methods Nurses were randomized to either simulation or online self-study module and assessed by direct observation and completion of a standardized instrument by the observer at 3 time points: baseline (time 1), within 7 days of baseline in the clinical setting (time 2), and at 2 months (time 3) using a validated12-item Neurologic Knowledge Assessment and a 14-item performance skill checklist. Results Among OB nurses, those in the simulation group demonstrated higher levels in both short-term (time 2) [mean (SD), 67.6 (20.2) vs. 29.6 (19.0); P < 0.001] and long-term (time 3) [mean (SD), 46.1 (17.6) vs. 27.5 (15.9); P < 0.001] skill performance compared with nurses in the online self-study module. Nurses in the simulation and online self-study module groups had similar mean levels on Neurologic Knowledge Assessment scores at time 2 (P = 0.86) and time 3 (P = 0.59), but these mean scores were not significant. Conclusions The greater transfer of skills by nurses who received simulation education is an important finding because few studies have addressed this level of translation with practicing nurses. There was a lack of differences in short- and long-term knowledge acquisition between nurses in the simulation and online self-study module groups. More research is needed to determine the timing of simulation-based education repetition over time to aid in knowledge and skills retention.

State of Interprofessional Education in Nursing: A Systematic Review

The aim of this systematic review was to synthesize research in the last 5 years to report the current state of the science related to interprofessional education (IPE) in nursing. Findings suggest that more studies with rigorous research designs are needed to compare outcomes for interprofessional interventions and to determine the effectiveness of IPE on patient outcomes.