NLN Research Project

Focusing on simulation in nursing education

The latest update on the project can be found in the Research section of the NLN website at the Simulation Study Project. The appendix of this report includes a comprehensive bibliography of articles on simulation.

 

Alliance between NLN and Laerdal to support Nursing Education Research

 

In February of 2003, the National League for Nursing (NLN) announced a new alliance with Laerdal to support vitally important nursing education research. Laerdal awarded the NLN a three-year, $375,000 grant to support a national, multi-site, multi-method project to develop and test models using simulation to promote student learning in nursing.

Laerdal’s grant enabled eight NLN-member schools to participate in the research. Those sites selected were:

  • University of Virginia – Charlottesville, VA

  • University of Southern Maine – Portland, MA

  • Community College of Southern Nevada – Las Vegas, NV

  • Case Western Reserve University – Cleveland, OH

  • The Washington Hospital School of Nursing –  Washington, PA

  • University of Maryland – Baltimore, MD

  • Tulsa Community College – Tulsa, OK

  • Texas Tech Health Science Center – Lubbock, TX

    • Dr. Pam Jeffries of the Indiana University School of Nursing was named Project Coordinator.

    Through this initiative, the project sites have been developing innovative uses of simulation in teaching nursing care of ill adults and children. Laerdal’s SimMan® is one of the simulation technologies used to enhance student learning, but schools also used and studied the effectiveness of other approaches and simulation tools.

    Schools have been documenting student outcomes of learning through simulation, specifically, the extent to which different simulation models affect students’ critical thinking skills, level of self-confidence/anxiety, and knowledge.

    The results of their findings are being released in the fall of 2006.

    The National League for Nursing is the only national organization that represents the nursing workforce at all levels of education and practice. For 110 years, NLN has been dedicated to preparing nurses to meet the needs of a changing health care environment. NLN provides opportunities for the professional development of nursing faculty to advance quality nursing education. In addition to competency tests and measurements, and other educational products, NLN serves as a repository of databases, information, and benchmarking related to nursing education.

    For more information about the NLN, visit their website at
    www.nln.org

    http://www.nln.org/research/nln_laerdal/index.htm