Inclusion of Disability Content in Simulation: An Evaluation of the Learners' Perspective on the Effectiveness of a Pediatric Tabletop Simulation.

BACKGROUND: Despite recommendations to include disability content in nursing education, nursing students have little exposure to disability education, which would help to develop necessary knowledge, skills, and attitudes in learning to care for patients with disabilities. PURPOSE: This study evaluated learners' perceptions of the effectiveness of a tabletop simulation in meeting their learning needs related to nursing care for children with disabilities and their families. METHODS: The research design was a descriptive educational intervention study. Nursing students (n = 234) enrolled in the pediatric nursing course attended the simulation as a required part of their coursework. RESULTS: The majority of the students found the tabletop simulation with disability content to be an effective educational intervention. CONCLUSIONS: The results obtained from this study indicated that the tabletop simulation was an effective educational strategy for nursing students' learning to provide care for children with disabilities and their families.

Real-time decision-making in chronic illness branching simulation.

The United States (US) is facing a rapidly aging population that suffers from multiple chronic illnesses. To prepare nursing students to care for this increasingly complex, aging population nurse educators must develop curricula that incorporate both current technology and cutting-edge teaching pedagogies that facilitate development of real-time decision-making skills. Branching scenarios are simulations that mimic real-life; rapidly changing patient conditions unfold based on actual student decision-making. This challenges learners to adapt the nursing process based on subjective and objective assessments and utilize current technology to analyze multiple sources of patient data. As nursing students make decisions and act, the scenario branches, presenting them with immediate feedback on the outcomes. Branching simulation scenario designs incorporate multiple different mobile technologies with decision-support software that nursing students may access, such as real-time decision-support algorithms, evidence-based guidelines, telehealth, medication information resources, and electronic medical records (EMRs). Faculty at NYU Rory Meyers College of Nursing (NYU) have successfully incorporated mobile technology with decision-support software into branching simulations as a strategy to develop real-time clinical decision-making in the care of older adults with multiple chronic illnesses.