ArticleEducationUsing clinical simulations in geriatric nursing continuing education
Section snippets
Rationale for Geriatric Nursing Clinical Simulations
The use of clinical simulations provides an innovative milieu to practice geriatric nursing skills that include high level problem-solving and multi-task performance in a risk-free environment.13 According to constructivist learning theory, all learning is individually constructed from one's experience during interaction with the physical, mental, and social world by building and adjusting current knowledge structures.14 This suggests that the focus of learning should be on constructing active
Overview of the Program
In 2003, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Nursing was awarded a 3-year Comprehensive Geriatric Education Program grant by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA, grant number D62HP01913). The specific purposes of this grant were to: (1) develop peer-reviewed geriatric clinical simulations in the long-term care and acute care settings appropriate for 3 levels of learner: registered nurses, licensed practical nurses and nursing assistants; (2) offer
Results
A total of 312 nurses participated in 14 continuing education (CE) offerings: 7 RN workshops, 4 LPN workshops, and 3 NEIs. Informed consents were signed by 283 participants (90.7%). The 29 participants who did not sign informed consent forms were scattered across the CE offerings except for the last LPN workshop, in which only 7 of 15 informed consent forms were submitted. This may have been due to a personnel change in the CE department prior to the workshop and the person was unaware to draw
Discussion
There is great need for nurses with geriatric nursing competencies in assessing and treating acute exacerbations of chronic conditions, new acute illnesses or sentinel events such as hip fractures. Evidence of nurse shortages, especially those with geriatric expertise, is alarming to nurse educators and clinicians desiring to improve geriatric nursing care. Many initiatives in schools of nursing18 and in hospitals19 are underway. Increasing geriatric competencies in already-practicing nurses
Conclusions
Clinical simulations are effective in increasing geriatric nursing knowledge. Nurse participants enjoyed the interactive nature of clinical simulations, especially those that used a HPS. Research is needed to determine if the self-reported increase in skills levels translate into better patient care.
Mary H. Palmer, PhD, RN, C, FAAN is Umphlet Distinguished Professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC.
References (23)
- et al.
Gerontological Nursing Content in Baccalaureate Nursing Programs: Comparison of findings from 1997-2003
J Prof Nurs
(2005) Guest Editorial: Building academic geriatric nursing capacity: The JAHF/AAN partnership
Nursing Outlook
(2006)- et al.
The OASIS Program: Redesigning hospital care for older adults
Geriatric Nursing
(2006) - et al.
Delirium: A symptom of how hospital care is failing older persons and a window to improve quality of hospital care
Am J Med
(1999) Geriatrics and gerontology education for nurses: The AACN/Hartford partnership
J Prof Nurs
(2006)- et al.
A necessity not a luxury: Preparing advanced practice nurses to care for older adults
J Prof Nurs
(2006) U.S. Administration on Aging; 2007
65+ in the United States
Medicare and chronic conditions
N Engl J Med
(2005)- et al.
The future history of gerontological nursing
J Gerontol Medical Sciences
(2002)
The “competent” nurse?
Int J Nurs Pract
Cited by (13)
Great geriatric syndromes: Acquisition of nursing competencies and undergraduate nursing students' perceptions through high-fidelity simulation training
2023, Nurse Education TodayCitation Excerpt :Furthermore, no research study to date has shown the effectiveness of the MAES© methodology in improving the acquisition of the necessary nursing competencies for adequate management of these syndromes, as this methodology has been mainly applied for adequate nursing management of adult patients (Arizo-Luque et al., 2022). The clinical simulation methodology has shown nursing students' improvement in their geriatric knowledge (Palmer et al., 2008), clinical judgment (Johnson et al., 2012), leadership skills (DeBrew and Hensley-Hannah, 2017), and interprofessional collaboration (Brown et al., 2021) in caring for older people. However, none of these studies used standardized patients in their simulation sessions.
The effects of high-fidelity simulation training on empathy and attitudes toward older people among undergraduate nursing students: A quasi-experimental study
2022, Nurse Education in PracticeCitation Excerpt :This methodology meets all the requirements defined by the International Nursing Association for Clinical Simulation and Learning (INACSL) Standards of Best Practice: SimulationSM (INACSL Standards Committee, 2016) and has proven to be more effective than traditional simulation-based learning (Díaz Agea et al., 2019). Previous studies have demonstrated the effectiveness of simulation-based training in geriatric education (Palmer et al., 2008; Siew et al., 2021), specifically improving the attitudes toward older people (Ross et al., 2017) and empathy (Chua et al., 2021; Levett-Jones et al., 2019) among healthcare students. However, there is a paucity of literature regarding the use of clinical simulation in nursing education focused on the adequate management of great geriatric syndromes.
Application progress of experiential teaching in education of senile care at home and abroad
2019, Chinese Journal of Practical NursingKnowledge, attitudes, beliefs, and practices in registered nurses and care AIDS about urinary incontinence in Korean Nursing Homes: A cross-sectional survey
2015, Journal of Wound, Ostomy and Continence NursingStrategies to Improve Nurse Knowledge of Delirium: A Call to the Adult-Gerontology Clinical Nurse Specialist
2015, Clinical Nurse SpecialistEvaluation of a simulation training programme for geriatric medicine
2015, Age and Ageing
Mary H. Palmer, PhD, RN, C, FAAN is Umphlet Distinguished Professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC.
Vicki Kowlowitz, PhD is a Clinical Associate Professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC.
Jane Campbell, RN, MSN, APRN, BC is an Adjunct Assistant Professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC.
Carlye Carr, MSN, FNP, APRN, BC is a Nurse Practitioner for Palliative Care, Durham Regional Hospital, Duke University Health Systems, Durham, NC.
Roberta Dillon, RN, MSN, CNS was a Clinical Instructor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC.
Carol F. Durham, RN, MSN is a Clinical Associate Professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC.
Lindsay Allen Gainer, RN, MSN is a Nurse Manager, Hematopoetic Stem Cell Transplant Unit, Chidren's Hospital, Boston, MA.
Jeanne Jenkins, RN, MSN, MBA was a Clinical Assistant Professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC.
Julianne B. Page, RN, MSN is a Clinical Assistant Professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC.
Joyce Rasin, PhD, RN is an Associate Professor at Widener University, Chester, PA.
Funding source: Health Services and Resources Administration.
Comprehensive Geriatric Education Program.
Grant Number: D62HP01913.