This study evaluated student and faculty member perceptions regarding the use of a computerized universal patient simulator (Laerdal ™ SimMan ™ Universal Patient Simulator) in a simulated clinical scenario. Students who used SimMan in clinical simulation activities in this baccalaureate program during two consecutive semesters were surveyed using a 20-item tool scored on a 4-point Likert scale. Four faculty members were surveyed using a 17-item tool with the same response scale. The majority of the student sample consisted of Anglo women between ages 22 and 36. Survey items related to the reality of the simulations, the pace and flow of the clinical simulation, the ability to transfer skills learned to actual clinical settings, and the value of the simulated clinical experiences. Faculty members were also surveyed related to resource issues. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze survey responses. The majority of the students and faculty members identified the simulations as realistic and valuable. However, only approximately half of the students agreed that the skills learned in the clinical simulation would transfer to a real clinical setting, compared to 100% of the faculty. Faculty members reported that implementing the simulated clinical scenario required additional time and resources.

Nurse educators are challenged to find instructional methods that actively engage learners and help students understand concepts for application in practice situations. During the 2003-2004 academic year, faculty implemented team learning in a first-semester clinical nursing course in a baccalaureate nursing program at a Research I state university in the southwestern United States. Team learning engages small groups in learning tasks that require problem solving and decision making. Student perceptions about team learning were evaluated using classroom observations and interviews. The results verified that team learning predominantly promotes learner-to-learner engagement and indicated that students struggled with application problems that had several plausible answers yet recognized the relevance to clinical practice. Students appreciated the need for increased individual accountability for learning and identified value in learning through discussion, both characteristics inherent to team learning. Students were concerned about their team learning grade and its dependence on group performance.

Critical thinking is an important topic in nursing education today. The authors describe an assignment, based on the steps of the nursing process, in which students use critical-thinking skills to develop, implement, and evaluate a personal health-promotion contract. The assignment allows students to integrate health promotion, behavioral contracting, and critical-thinking concepts from the dual perspective of the nurse and the patient.