An important part of training as a nurse is participating in hands-on clinical care, but now shelter-in-place regulations and school closures are preventing nursing students from gaining that hands-on experience. Nashville, Tenn.-based Vanderbilt University School of Nursing is solving the problem in a creative way by having its instructors stand in for the students.
After clinical education in hospitals and healthcare clinics was suspended in mid-March, the faculty at the Vanderbilt brainstormed ways to allow their first-year students to complete their clinical training without delay.
The faculty decided to have the students use a virtual livestream to allow them to continue training in a patient care simulation laboratory. Since the students can't be there in person, the instructors and other lab staff stand in for the students to interact with the nursing mannequins and provide patient care.
"One instructor acted as the student's eyes, ears and hands while another observed and coached, just as they would do with actual patients in the clinical setting," Erin Rodgers, DNP, RN, one of the course coordinators, said, in media release. "Students instructed their avatar on what to do, step-by-step. The avatar reported the results, and then the students as a group evaluated whether that skill was implemented correctly and discussed the outcome."
Each student takes a turn directing the stand-in and discussing the scenarios with their groups. The students have to explain every step to direct the stand-in, allowing faculty to assess their knowledge.
The nursing school faculty also got confirmation from the Tennessee Board of Nursing and the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education that the virtual training in the simulation lab can be used in place of direct patient care.
"Every hour that students are logging in these virtual activities counts toward their preparation for the national council licensure examination, NCLEX," said Mary Ann Jessee, director of prespecialty education at the nursing school.