Empowering Nurse Educators: Strategies to Overcome Obstacles in Simulation Based Clinical Teaching

Author Bio: Sanam Hanif is an MScN Scholar & Clinical Preceptor at Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan

Simulation-based teaching is considered an innovative pedagogy and rapidly growing discipline that has resulted in remarkable transformations in nursing clinical education. Simulation pedagogy is a stimulating teaching tool for a real patient environment in a controlled setting, where learners gain experience by making mistakes and learn from them without causing harm to the patient (Al-Elq, 2010). Acquiring appropriate nursing skills is essential to evidence-based nursing practice. Clinical teaching is the core component of nursing training in undergraduate programs (Jayasekara et al., 2018). Educators play a decisive role in creating an effective learning environment that enhances students’ clinical experience and provides enriching hands-on skills. The use of simulation in undergraduate clinical teaching has become increasingly popular in recent years, presenting challenges for both educators and students.

To increase the demand on educators to learn new teaching modalities requires a set of skills. Many educators face several challenges when integrating simulation as a teaching strategy into clinical teaching. One of the most significant challenges is determining which clinical courses and learning objectives are best suited for simulation. This requires a deep understanding of the course’s clinical arenas and a clear understanding of the expected graduate attributes of the undergraduate program. Simulation is a non-threatening and authentic learning environment that challenges students’ critical thinking, clinical judgement, and technical performance in emergency situations or routine tasks in ward settings (Koukourikos et al., 2021). This leads to another challenge for educators: how to create realism in simulated scenarios? Educators may select from low fidelity to high fidelity based on the students’ educational level, the learning pace, and to maintain a balanced cognitive load, enabling them to learn from their mistakes and continuously improve their actions. The integration of simulated activity into clinical education deepens context-rich experiential learning for students by bridging the gap between theory and practice, ultimately enhancing their clinical competencies and decision-making abilities.

At the organizational level, educators’ training programs are also under scrutiny for incorporating simulation into clinical teaching. Furthermore, there are financial and space constraints on campus, as well as a limited number of faculty members with exceptional skills in scenario design, implementation, and simulation debriefing. However, simulation may require initial investment in resources and educator training programs, but it creates an opportunity for interprofessional educators’ collaboration to enhance the integration of simulation in clinical teaching. Therefore, including simulation in nursing education is a worthwhile investment to prepare students and educators for future healthcare challenges.

As an educator, I firmly believe that clinical teaching is an excellent opportunity to reflect on what we do well and challenge ourselves to consider what we can do differently to enhance our students’ learning experiences. By effectively utilizing simulation facilities to their fullest potential, educators can create a more immersive and engaging learning experience, contributing to Sustainable Development Goal 4, which helps students acquire the necessary skills and knowledge to succeed in their careers.

Reference

Al-Elq, A. H. (2010). Simulation-based medical teaching and learning. J Family Community Med, 17(1), 35-40. doi:10.4103/1319-1683.68787

Jayasekara, R., Smith, C., Hall, C., Rankin, E., Smith, M., Visvanathan, V., & Friebe, T.-R. (2018). The effectiveness of clinical education models for undergraduate nursing programs: A systematic review. Nurse Education in Practice, 29, 116-126.

Koukourikos, K., Tsaloglidou, A., Kourkouta, L., Papathanasiou, I. V., Iliadis, C., Fratzana, A., & Panagiotou, A. (2021). Simulation in Clinical Nursing Education. Acta Inform Med, 29(1), 15-20. doi:10.5455/aim.2021.29.15-20