Tiffany K. Nielsen, DNP, APRN, FNP-C
HS Assistant Clinical Professor
Dr. Tiffany Nielsen has been named the Simulation Coordinator for the UC Irvine Sue & Bill Gross School of Nursing.
The School of Nursing is working to increase its use of simulation education to develop enriching learning experiences for its students and to address the current challenges in prelicensure nursing clinical placements in California. The California Board of Registered Nursing recommends that schools spend up to 25% of required clinical time in simulation and/or simulation-related activities. To meet this recommendation, Dr. Nielsen will be working closely with the School of Nursing Faculty and the Medical Education Simulation Center to incorporate simulation throughout the nursing curriculum and create innovative and meaningful experiences for our future nurses.
In the fall quarter, all senior nursing students participated in one Pediatric and one Obstetrics high-fidelity simulation scenario as part of their course curriculum. The junior nursing students participated in 3 different simulation cases incorporated into their Nursing Foundations course. At first, the simulation scenarios for the juniors were very simple, to allow students to become comfortable with simulation, their assessment skills, and patient care. As the quarter progressed, the simulation scenarios increased in complexity, incorporating various learning objectives and progressive skill development.
“The overall feedback from the students was that Simulation was very valuable, and they learned a lot,” reports Dr. Nielsen. “Not only during the scenarios, but also in the debriefing immediately following the simulations, where we discussed the cases, explored the rationales behind the actions that occurred, and identified key concepts that could be applied to future patient situations. The students requested that they have more simulation experiences in the future.”
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