Simulation, the imitation or representation of one act or system by another, is becoming a more popular teaching tool for health care educators. A growing body of research is assessing the efficacy of simulation in healthcare education. Boise State’s School of Nursing has been acknowledged in multiple research articles as a leader for faculty development focused on simulation education.
In July 2014, the Journal of Nursing Regulation released a landmark study, which recommended that fifty percent of clinical hours can be replaced with simulation in prelicensure nursing education with no change in the quality of education. “The National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN) National Simulation Study: A Longitudinal, Randomized, Controlled Study Replacing Clinical Hours with Simulation in Prelicensure Nursing Education” acknowledges Becky Bunderson, director of the College of Health Sciences Simulation Center, and the School of Nursing faculty, staff and students for their work in piloting the scenarios later used in the study.
Additionally, the School of Nursing is recognized as an exemplar for faculty development in simulation in the “NCSBN Simulation Guidelines for Prelicensure Nursing Programs,” which was published in the Jan. 2015 issue of the Journal of Nursing Regulation.
In fall 2015, Boise State began a Healthcare Simulation Graduate Certificate program to help healthcare educators become stronger, more efficient simulation facilitators in their courses. Eleven students representing half a dozen states from across the country enrolled in the first cohort and the program’s faculty and staff receive consistent inquiries from all over the nation, as well as Puerto Rico and Saudi Arabia. The program was listed as one of the preliminary programs in the U.S. that are helping educators with continuing education and preparing them for Simulation in Healthcare certifications in “After the National Council of State Boards of Nursing Simulation Study – Recommendations and Next Steps,” a featured article in volume 12, issue 1 of the Clinical Simulation in Nursing Journal. The article is a summary of a panel discussion on the results and significance of the NCSBN Simulation study at the 14th annual International Nursing Association for Clinical Simulation and Learning Conference, held in Atlanta, Georgia.
The School of Nursing also partners with the National League for Nursing to offer a popular simulation conference on the Boise State campus every two years which features nationally and internationally known keynote speakers. The next conference will be in April 2016.
For more information about simulation, visit http://www.ssih.org/About-Simulation/.
For more information about Boise State’s Healthcare Simulation Graduate Certificate, visit https://www.boisestate.edu/healthsciences-simulation/.