Armed with a fresh feasibility study showing the positive impact regional simulation labs would have on nurse education, Mississippi nurse leaders are asking state lawmakers for funding of $450,000 to continue the process and move forward.

 

"The funding is primarily to establish the Mississippi Nursing Education Simulation Alliance, provide funding for faculty education/development in structured cohorts, and implement the StudentMax clinical placement system statewide," said Wanda M. Jones, MS, RN, executive director of the Mississippi Office of Nursing Workforce. "If funding was available July 1, we would begin initial meetings of various stakeholders in August, and the first faculty development session would be this fall, with a second one in the spring."

 

Legislators have been supportive of cost-effective ways to alleviate the nurse shortage problem statewide. In an effort to plan strategically for equitable access to simulation for all schools, they provided $75,000 through the Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning (IHL) to fund the comprehensive one-year study to assess the schools of nursing and to address the concept of shared use of clinical simulation labs and the use of pooled resources of mobile capability models from other states.

 

"Over the past two decades, simulation models have become important tools in the education of healthcare professionals," said Martha Catlette, PhD, director of nursing education at IHL. "Nevertheless, the use of such models varies widely in Mississippi nursing education programs, as some programs offer students fully equipped laboratories while others employ no simulation opportunities."

 

 

 

 "The use of technology in nursing education is only going to increase and it's imperative that we find ways to acquire the necessary equipment for our schools of nursing and provide adequate training for our faculty," said Jones. "With the current nursing and nursing faculty shortages, and the demand for nursing projected to continue to increase, with both retiring nurses and an increasing aging patient population, it will be even more critical that there is a collaborative, regional approach with both associate and baccalaureate nursing programs working together, in partnership with hospitals, long term care, home care and hospice, and various other clinical settings. This is one reason that the statewide alliance is such a popular concept across the country; it provides the most efficient outcomes with limited and shared resources. With rapid changes in technology and information, healthcare employers will also be challenged to keep their staff at optimal competency levels, and a relationship with a regional simulation lab will be an advantageous strategy." 

 

One of the primary goals of the use of simulation in nursing education, continued Jones, is to improve patient safety and quality care, not only by offering an additional avenue for repetition and skills perfection, but also by providing opportunities for clinical situations that the student may never experience during clinical rotations.