Every nurse, new and old alike will tell you that graduation from a school of nursing does not a nurse make. In fact, the education is only the beginning of the development of a phenomenal nurse.
The first day that the graduate nurse starts work on the floor and is finally able to practice their newly acquired skills is when the nurse really learns. Only when those learned skills are practiced over and over again will the nurse become adept, comfortable and have the dexterity of a seasoned professional.
The future of nursing education will become a partnership with technology just as it has become in all health care settings. An example of the marriage between nursing and technology is already evident in the number of nursing programs who have implemented online courses into the curriculum enabling students to further their education without sacrificing family and work to obtain advanced degrees in nursing.
The emerging technology that will, in my opinion, drastically change the way that nurses learn and perfect their practical skills without having to find a willing human patient is Virtual Medical Training.
Second Life, NESIM (Nursing Education Simulator) is a simulation training program created recently by John Miller, a nursing instructor in Washington. The students assess the patient, use critical thinking skills and learn to use defibrillators, IV pumps, and other “hands on” skills to treat their computer-generated patient who is experiencing a variety of medical problems.
This education method is gaining population among the entire medical community and is being used to train medical students too. Discover magazine has an interesting article showcasing the virtual operating room where medical students can observe and participate in simulated surgery.
There is a simulator that teaches how to perform a tracheotomy (not for nurses or other non-physician people please).
http://simcen.org/VME%20Lab/projects/cric/images/cric_web_animation.gif
This kind of “hands-on” training without using a real human will create a more confident nurse who is skilled in their craft the very first day that the nurse works on the floor. This will be better for the new nurse, the nurse preceptor, and it will greatly reduce the anxiety level for the new nurse and for the patient.
How exciting! Thanks for sharing.