The use of high fidelity simulation in Acute Care Nurse Practitioner graduate education affords a unique opportunity to link student performance and competency evaluation. Increasingly, simulation is being utilized in graduate nursing education to provide guided learning, facilitate critical thinking, and enhance the development of diagnostic reasoning. Educators are faced with several challenges related to the integration of high fidelity simulation into nurse practitioner curricula. The first challenge is integrating simulation experiences appropriate to the developmental stage of the learner. Once a program begins utilizing high fidelity simulation, a second challenge is the development of simulation cases that support achievement of course and program outcomes that are based on Adult-Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioner (AGACNP) competencies. One method that was proposed in the literature by Rosen (2008) is the Simulation Module for Assessment of Resident Targeted Event Responses (SMARTER) approach to simulation case development.
This workshop will present an innovative approach to the development and implementation of a simulation program as part of an AGACNP curriculum. Discussion will include the goals of simulation, keys to collaboration with the simulation staff and the development of faculty debriefing skills. A methodology for creating simulation scenarios using the Simulation Module for Assessment of Responses to Targeted Events and Reactions in Nurse Practitioner Students (SMARTER-NPS) approach (a modification of the “SMARTER” methodology) will be explained. This process begins with the identification of AGACNP competencies to be addressed, selection of the simulation case content, and development of the events of the case that will demonstrate and evaluate the identified competencies. Finally, the modified SMARTER process provides guidance to educators in the development of a Behavioral Assessment Tool (BAT) that is specific to the simulation case. The BAT is then used as a debriefing guide. Examples of increasingly complex simulation experiences that have been integrated into the curriculum using both the SMARTER approach and BAT will be shared. Finally, the pearls and pitfalls of simulation program development will be shared.
