Title: Designing immersive simulations according to sociocultural learning theory to

facilitate international nursing students' entry into the community of nursing practice.

Aims

This PhD research project aimed to explore the ways in which the sociocultural theory of

Communities of Practice can inform the design of immersive simulations to facilitate first

year international nursing students' participation with the community of nursing practice

during the initial clinical placement.

Background

International nursing students, particularly those form culturally and linguistically diverse

backgrounds experience significant stress and confusion in relation to identity, purpose and

expectations of being a nursing student during the clinical placement in Australia (Brown,

2005). This research project set out to explore the ways in which immersive simulations

informed by the pivotal concepts of Lave & Wenger's (1991) Communities of Practice (CoP)

may facilitate international nursing student's understanding of learning through participation

in the sociocultural practice of nursing as preparation for the initial clinical placement.

Methods

This qualitative research project was conducted in three phases at an Australian university

school of nursing; Phase One comprised a literature review and focus group to inform the

design of three immersive simulations; Phase Two employed direct observation and video

recording of each simulation and the post-simulation debrief; and Phase Three consisted of

participant interviews at the completion of the initial clinical placement.

All captured data was transcribed verbatim, was analysed via thematic content analysis as

proposed by Miles and Huberman (1994) and interpreted using a case study methodology.

Local ethics approval was sought and granted for this project.

Results

Results indicate that the interplay between CoP and simulation design offers valuable

contributions to existing practices of simulation design. Of particular interest is the capacity

to inform simulation design with an established learning theory, and the potential to foster

the identity of a student nurse through a carefully developed simulation program supported

by an appropriate learning theory. Further results including the implications for curriculum

development will be presented and discussed.

Conclusions

This study contributes to the simulation literature, specifically by adding to the critically

under-researched area of learning theory informing simulation design (Kaakinen & Arwood,

2009; Parker & Myrick, 2010). Furthermore, this research demonstrates a unique approach

to simulation design by framing each simulation within the context of sociocultural practice.

The author has disclosed no financial relationships.

Concepts within this presentation have previously been presented at the Fifth International

Clinical Skills Conference, Prato, Tuscany May 2013.

References

Brown, V. M. (2005). Culturally and linguistically diverse nursing student education: a

grounded theory study. Doctor of Philosophy, Curtin University.

Kaakinen, J., & Arwood, E. (2009). Systematic review of nursing simulation literature for use

of learning theory. International Journal of Nursing Education Scholarship, 6(1), 1-20.

Retrieved from http://www.bepress.com/ijnes/vol6/iss1/art16 doi:10.2202/1548-

923X.1688

Lave, J., & Wenger, E. (1991). Situated learning: Legitimate peripheral participation. New

York, NY: Cambridge University Press.

Miles, M.B., & Huberman, A.M. (1994). Qualitative data analysis: an expanded sourcebook

(2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Parker, B., & Myrick, F. (2010). Transformative learning as a context for human patient

simulation. Journal of Nursing Education, 49(6), 326-332. doi: 10.3298/01484834-

20100224-02