Nursing Students as Epidemiologists: A Simulation Approach

Abstract

Simulation is commonly used in nursing education to teach clinical skills. Here, we describe the development processes, implementation, and evaluation of an epidemiology simulation used in a community and public health nursing undergraduate clinical course at the University of Pennsylvania. The simulation was designed to teach students the principles and concepts of outbreak investigation and was based on the 2003 Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome outbreak in Toronto, Canada. The simulation places students in the role of a public health nurse in the outbreak investigation team, working in groups of five to seven students to complete analyses and make recommendations under time and information constraints. Since piloting in spring 2014, we have run the simulation three times (summer and fall 2014 and summer 2015). Student evaluations show high levels of engagement and interest and substantial increase in the skills and expertise required in an outbreak investigation. We share key lessons learned, including resources required for simulation development and delivery, revisions to the simulation format and content in response to student feedback, and transferability and sustainability of the simulation. Overall, simulation was a feasible and effective modality to teach epidemiology and should be considered in community and public health nursing courses.

Clinical research capability enhanced for medical undergraduates: an innovative simulation-based clinical research curriculum development

“…For simulation teaching in specific research design, an outbreak investigation simulation was developed to teach nursing students principles of epidemiology in 2016 [42]. A Korean study reported the feasibility and good effects of a course including a simulated clinical crossover trial to teach clinical studies for undergraduates, during which students were randomly grouped to distinguish between two different types of cola as simulated subjects [14].…”

Ethics simulation in nursing education: Nursing students' experiences

“…Nursing students are used to move themselves electronically in different interactive network environments. 27,45,46 This has led to that nursing studies are problem-free when education technology supports study work. Therefore, the study foundation needs to be quick, direct and enable an obstacle-free interaction between teachers and different actors in nursing education and healthcare organizations where nursing students encounter the clinical reality.…”

Effectiveness of simulation-based clinical research curriculum for undergraduate medical students - a pre-post intervention study with external control

“…By mirroring the real-world clinical research process, research skills can be trained, including protocol design, recruitment, data collection and analysis, report writing and dissemination. Previous studies employed simulation in protocol development [ 14 ], principles and concepts of outbreak [ 15 ], research design [ 5 , 16 ]. However, comprehensive evidences on effectiveness of high-fidelity simulation for overall process of clinical researches is still limited.…”