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