e387 Presentation Abstracts from 2012 INACSL Conference

through the perspective of the character and a deep understanding of the

multiple variables that impact health care. The virtual community is

universally appealing to faculty who are attempting to adopt integrative

approaches in their teaching.

Methods: The purpose of this presentation is to introduce participants to

virtual communities as a teaching application and provide exemplars of how

this integrative teaching strategy can be used in the context of the simulation

and clinical laboratory experiences. Specifically, it will include an overview

of virtual communities, known student and faculty outcomes associatedwith

virtual community use, teaching exemplars by experts from two different

nursing schools, and a short interactive exercise with the participants to

design an activity.

Evaluation: A virtual community has been used as a context for skills lab

experiences for the past two years as part of a revision to the skills lab

curriculum. Overall helpfulness of the revised skills lab, rated on a 1-5 scale,

showed scores ranging from 4-4.5 for fall/winter 2009/2010. In fall 2010 the

scale was changed to 1-10 and scores were 8.9(n¼99) and 8.7 (n¼101) for

2010/2011.

Implications: It is challenging to facilitate student learning within the

context of the patient’s experience or ‘patient story’. Using a virtual

community as a context for developing skills lab and simulation activities

can support student learning that incorporates many of the concepts of

patient/family centered care.

Relevance: This innovation strategy allows faculty to enrich their simulation

and laboratory experiences by using a virtual community of characters to

support student learning. This can enable faculty to take simulation to the

next level of authenticity and integration.

Breaking Bad News: An Interprofessional Simulation ExperienceLevel: Novice or Advanced

Diane S. Aschenbrenner, MS, RN, Faculty Coordinator of Nursing

Simulation and Practice Labs, dianea@son.jhmi.edu

Phyllis A. Naumann, MSN, MA, ANP, Undergraduate Faculty

Joyce Vazzano, MS, ANP,GNP. Undergraduate Faculty Johns Hopkins

University, 525 N. Wolfe Street Baltimore , MD 21205, 410-614-5320

Objective: Describe strategies to integrate IPE simulations into professional

curriculums.

Educators of healthcare professionals are challenged to provide

experiences that will develop the knowledge and skills needed by

students to become safe practitioners. Faculty members acknowledge

that each healthcare professional brings diverse skills, all necessary to

address patient care. ‘‘Once in practice, healthcare professionals are

asked to work in interdisciplinary teams, often to support those with

chronic conditions, yet they are not educated together or trained in

team-based skills.’’ (Institute of Medicine, 2001). Students have

limited opportunity to practice communication skills in a clinical

area under faculty guidance. The result of is impaired professional

communication, teamwork, and sub-optimal patient care. The Institute

of Medicine has challenged educators to improve patient outcomes by

providing interprofessional education. To integrate critical interpro-

fessional skills into the curriculum, nursing and medical faculty and

students created three simulations that addressed the topic of breaking

bad news. The desired outcomes were to promote communication

skills, foster teamwork, and strengthen the curriculum of each

professional school. Faculty, students, a social worker, a chaplain

and chaplain students met three evenings to create these simulations.

The finalized cases were reviewed by all faculty. A trial run of these

simulations followed by debriefing occurred at the last work session.

The three scenarios were piloted, revised, and are currently used as

clinical experiences by students in the nursing and medical schools.

Students reported the experience helpful. They appreciated an

opportunity to collaborate with another discipline and to practice

communication skills. Students described being surprised at how

pp e385-

difficult it was to give bad news and why it was important to support

the other team members. Students reported new awareness of what

other team members could contribute and the need for various

professional expertise. Nursing faculty were initially surprised that

nursing students required ‘‘permission’’ to be active participants in the

discussion. When faculty emphasized the role nurses had in a family

meeting students became more active team members and patient

advocates. One limitation was that social workers were not available

for the simulations. A discussion of their role was included in

debriefing. Simulations such as these are realistic, safe, learning

experiences for students. They provide a beginning for interprofes-

sional collaboration which is essential in clinical practice.

Rope in those Scenario Writing Skills for Vocational Nursing StudentsLevel of Presentation: Novice

Korbi Kidd Berryhill, MSN, RN, CRRN, and Tara Strawn, MSN, RN,

Vocational Nursing Program, South Plains College, Lubbock, TX

79416, 806-716-4620, kberryhill@southplainscollege.edu

Objectives

1. To discuss writing level-appropriate simulation scenarios

2. To go through the steps of writing effective simulations

Simulation scenarios must provide the student with the opportunity to

apply knowledge previously learned, to demonstrate critical thinking and

to give the student the opportunity to acquire new knowledge. The

difficulty for scenario writers and for instructors running the simulation is

that the scenario must be appropriate for the student level and must be

related to specific learning objectives or else the student may be

overwhelmed. Additionally, the scenario must have flexibility so that the

instructor running the simulation can respond as the student provides

nursing care.

This presentation will outline how to write a simulation scenario from the

initial steps of establishing the purpose and learning objectives of the

scenario to setting the goals for debriefing. A standardized writing tool to

provide structure will be discussed as well as identifying current literature

and texts to provide background information for the scenario.

Writing effective and level appropriate simulation scenarios for vocational

nursing students can be a daunting task. This presentation will focus on

establishing learning objectives, writing the scenario and identifying the

pitfalls in scenario writing.

Using Unfolding Cases in Simulation to Focus on the Care of SeniorsLevel of Presentation: Novice

Teri Boese, MSN, RN, Cynthia Reese, and Mary Cato, Simulation

Center, Director, International University of Nursing/University of

Medicine and Health Sciences, St. Kitts, West Indies, 869.466.1057,

tboese@iuon.net

At the conclusion of this presentation, participants will:

implement an unfolding case, including a simulation that has been de-

signed to address concepts related to Advancing Care Excellence for

Seniors (ACES).

recognize the elements of the simulation designed to help students im-

plement ACES Essential Nursing Actions.

ACES (Advancing Care Excellence for Seniors) is a framework to guide

the teaching of nursing students to provide competent, individualized, and

humanistic care to older adults. Four unfolding cases have been developed as

part of a National League for Nursing and the Community College of

e416 � Clinical Simulation in Nursing � Volume 8 � Issue 8