Anyone who has worked in Nursing education knows the problem: Clinical sites are hard to find, good clinical instructors are expensive and students' clinical experiences vary greatly. We've tried to supplement clinical hours with increased time in the Simulation Lab but for those schools who adhere strictly to evidence based learning, there was no definitive research proving Simulation hours are as valuable as Clinical ones.
Now there is.
Drum roll please....
It turns out, there is no significant difference in pass rates for students who spent 50% of their clinical time in simulations. Even after the students' were settled in the workplace, they showed no difference in competency at six weeks, three months or six months.
So, let's hope this is put into policy soon and the burden of finding clinical locations is lessened. And don't forget -- if your students are spending all that time in simulations, they should definitely be using an EHR system to mimic a realistic workflow. Shoot us a quick email if you'd like to review ours (information@ehrtutor.com).
Happy simulating!