Nurse educators are finding it increasingly more challenging to prepare undergraduate students for the ever-changing and more acute clinical environment. As an answer to this dilemma, the human patient simulator can provide students with the opportunity to enhance knowledge, to facilitate skill acquisition, to decrease anxiety, and to promote clinical judgment in a safe environment. These experiences assist the novice nursing student to progress to the advanced beginner stage of practice. This article describes how faculty used the human patient simulator in creating a case scenario that enhanced critical thinking in senior nursing students.

Use of a human patient simulator has been identified as an effective teaching strategy in many areas of the health care field. However, there is little information to help faculty learn the general principles of simulation. This article provides basic concepts to those anticipating simulator use. A guide for running a successful simulation is provided. A heart failure scenario is used as an example.