Simulation and Millennials—The Perfect Storm

Abstract

Simulation in its various forms has developed extensively over the past 15 -20 years for use in undergraduate nursing programs. The widespread integration of technology-based educational tools into nursing curricula is raising concerns that technology rather than sound philosophically-based pedagogy is informing nursing education. Some believe that educational soundness has been overtaken by a focus on technological prowess. The manikins used in this immersive classroom often breathe, blink, and even speak in response to lecturer-controlled commands. This research explores how Millennials as a generational cohort (18 -30 years of age) interface with the teaching/learning platform of simulation. This action research study is unfolded in three distinct action cycles involving 161 undergraduate nursing students. Millennial characteristics of confidence, high achievement, team orientation, technology focus, feedback-saturated, and trophy-seeking traits make them especially adept in immersive simulation environment. If supported by appropriate philosophical underpinnings, simulation as a teaching/learning platform has the potential to become the preferred classroom for Millennial nursing students.

Are They Watching: Pedagogical Influence of Role Modeling on Student Competence, Confidence, and Clinical Reasoning

“…Simulation is an interactive teaching strategy which replicates essential aspects of reality so that reality can be better understood by students to encourage critical thinking [3]. Our team identified a gap in simulation educator development and discovered an educational scaffold which students embraced to improve their critical thinking and clinical judgment [4] [5]. We did not think they were really watching.…”

Navigating the Storm of Deteriorating Patients: Seven Scaffolds for Simulation Design

“…Ultimately, if this process is occurring regularly and in a safe environment, students will begin to develop clinical imagination and the skills of clinical reasoning [26]. This ability to translate knowledge from pathophysiological, pharmacological, and skills silos, into concerns and actions for a particular patient, is the gold nugget of immersive classrooms [27] [28].…”