Conference Proceedings - School of Nursing & Midwifery - Trinity ...

School of Nursing & Midwifery, Trinity College Dublin: 8 th Annual Interdisciplinary Research Conference
Transforming Healthcare Through Research, Education & Technology: 7 th – 9 th November 2007
Conference Proceedings
spread than other categories. The majority of responses in this
category were negative (responses ranked 1, 4, 7, 8, 9). However,
this can be viewed from a number of perspectives; students
appeared uncomfortable with simulation (rank 9), that they felt this
should be optional (rank 1), or that they would prefer to be in
clinical practice (ranks 4 and 8). Interestingly, of the 27 students
(rank 1) who highlighted that this should be optional, thirteen
ranked this as their most important priority with in this category.
The timing of the simulated activity additionally seems important;
seventeen students (rank 7) highlight that the project should have
been in the fist three months of their nurse education. Of the more
positive responses within this category, twenty-two (rank 3)
acknowledged that this was a good opportunity to explore with staff
/ mentors issues that they were unsure about, and nineteen (rank
6) highlighted the importance of the clinical skills experience.
Discussion
The nominal group data presented here represents only one
component of the evaluation strategy of the NMC Simulation in
Practice Project at the School of Nursing and Midwifery at DMU. As a
methodological tool this has proved extremely valuable for
collecting a large amount of qualitative data in a short period of
time, which would have proved difficult using other methods within
this timeframe. In so doing, key issues surrounding the application
of simulated learning in nurse education were identified. The
experience of our CFP students broadly reflects the findings of other
HEIs undertaking simultaneous pilot projects (NMC, 2007). The NMC
will give further guidance in due course about the development of
simulated learning within nursing curricula, but this project would
seem to indicate that simulated learning can play an important role
in helping students to achieve practice outcomes. Certainly many of
the students in our project were able to identify the benefits of
simulated practice in providing a safe environment to practice
clinical skills.
Acknowledgements
We would like to thank our practice and educational colleagues who
helped to make this project successful.
References:
Macphail A. (2001). Nominal Group Technique: a useful method for
working with young people. British Educational Research Journal 27:
2: 161-170.
Nursing and Midwifery Council, 2007. Simulation in Practice Project
Feedack Seminar 11/09/07, London.
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