Elsevier

Journal of Professional Nursing

Volume 24, Issue 2, March–April 2008, Pages 109-117
Journal of Professional Nursing

Original article
U.S. Boards of Nursing and the Use of High-Fidelity Patient Simulators in Nursing Education

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.profnurs.2007.06.027Get rights and content

High-fidelity patient simulation is becoming an essential component of prelicensure nursing education. A survey was mailed to the boards of nursing in all states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico to ascertain the use of high-fidelity patient simulators for clinical time in current regulations. Participants were asked if high-fidelity patient simulation could be substituted for clinical time in the regulations and, if so, for what percentage. If not, they were asked whether they gave approval to nursing programs to substitute clinical time with high-fidelity patient simulators and, if so, for what percentage. Finally, the participants were asked whether they felt that the regulations would be changed in the future to allow the use of high-fidelity patient simulators to substitute for clinical time. Five states and Puerto Rico have made regulation changes to allow for such substitution, but only Florida has indicated a percentage of time. Sixteen states currently give approval for simulation substitution, and 17 states may consider regulation changes concerning high-fidelity patient simulation in the future. Such findings have implications for alterations in the prelicensure nursing curriculum that could examine patient safety and quality concerns addressed by the public and leading health and nursing organizations.

Section snippets

Background

Background on the history of the use of high-fidelity patient simulators in the health care field will first be presented. After a brief overview, factors influencing needed changes in nursing education will be discussed, followed by a discussion of the current literature on the use of high-fidelity simulation in health care education.

Method

A mailed survey was sent in 2006 to the boards of nursing in all states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico to examine the status of regulation changes concerning the use of high-fidelity patient simulation in nursing programs; if there were no regulation changes, was approval for use of such simulation needed? Surveys were sent to the Executive Director or lead nursing officer of each board. Five questions were asked:

  • 1.

    Have you changed your nursing regulations to allow a percentage of

Results

Responses were returned from 44 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico, for a response rate of 88.5%. Table 1 presents the findings of each of the research questions for each state, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.

Discussion

It appears that many states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico are reviewing prelicensure nursing education, especially clinical education, for the 21st century. This is in keeping with Tanner's (2006b) call for a reexamination of this important aspect of nursing education. The survey results point to the need for all nursing faculty to begin to address the process and outcomes of prelicensure nursing education so that graduates can be optimally prepared to be safe and competent.

Acknowledgments

Special thanks are extended to Cecily Betz, Sandra Faux, and Felissa Lashley for their critique of this article.

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