By: Pamela R. Jeffries, PhD, RN, FAAN, ANEF, FSSH
I am very excited to announce that the third edition of my very first book for the NLN is about to launch, making its debut at this year’s NLN Virtual Summit. When Simulation in Nursing Education: From Conceptualization to Evaluation was first published in 2007, it was viewed as the “cookbook” on how to create, implement, and evaluate simulations. Back in 2007 we had very little guidance to direct us. There was hardly any literature on how to create simulations, and even less on documenting how simulations worked. Since that first launch 13 years ago and the publication of the second edition in 2012, so much has changed.
Each edition of the book documents the dynamic environment of simulation pedagogy and is a record of the rapid changes that have taken place. Now in 2020, across the health professions, we have more formalized faculty development on how to conduct quality simulations. More research has been conducted, contributing to the state of the science in this area of pedagogy. Graduate and doctoral students, not only in nursing but in all health professions, are evaluating learning outcomes and exploring best practices in using this methodology. And we even have studies that have demonstrated the impact of simulation on quality patient outcomes, which, of course, is our ultimate goal. The landmark study funded and led by the National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN) in 2015 was a game-changer. This multisite, national study paved the way for modifications in clinical education in addition to state policy changes in nursing education. I have been excited and honored to be a part of the movement to foster the use of the simulation pedagogy in nursing education.
This third edition of Simulation in Nursing Education contains several new chapters and updates others. You will still find a chapter on the state of the science, where we are today with simulation, in addition to the ground-laying work around the NLN Jeffries Simulation Theory. Some of the fresh content you will find in this edition covers prebriefing and debriefing, virtual simulations, the use of standardized patients in Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCEs), and the latest content on evaluation and assessment of simulations, which we all try to incorporate in our programs, schools, and centers. I am grateful to all the simulation experts, faculty, and super-users who helped author the chapters in this third edition. The information they provide will bring you to the next level as we continue to embrace, foster, and promote the use of clinical simulation in nursing and health care education.
I hope you enjoy this book as much as we have relished writing it. I’m certain you will find it timely, with the latest information you will need to support and guide you in using simulation pedagogy. Just think of the last six months. With little time to prepare, educators facing the unprecedented Covid-19 pandemic had to find new ways to promote learning and provide the instructional continuity needed to educate today’s nursing workforce. The true, silent heroes in the world of clinical education during this time were virtual and screen-based simulations. It is clear that simulation will continue to revolutionize clinical education, as it has through the years.