INTRODUCTION:

In the health care sector, Nurses play an important role. Nursing is a profession which involves a care of an individuals, families and community so it focusses on the preventive promotive, curative and rehabilitative aspect as a whole health care.¹

Nurse assesses the patient problem, diagnosis a problem, set a goal and intervenes to solve the issue. This process needs a skill and practice. To develop a skill and to practice the nurses should work with real patients and there is a chance of commit a mistake which may harm a patient and leads to sometime legal issue. To put a break for this as a nurse should practice and to develop a skills on dummies, manikins and sophisticated simulators. This will minimizes the mistakes and protect the patients and families form harm.

Nursing education should involve a simulation to train the nurses and also nursing curriculum encompasses a simulation and its training to decrease the mistakes on patient.

Simulation in nursing not a technology but it is a technique. Many people are not familiar with the simulators, just because of it is a complex and contain sophisticated equipment but actually it does not involves an equipment instead it involves an educational methodology which allows the bud nurses to think on their own feet but not on their seat. These types of simulators give an opportunity for the bud nurses and staff nurses to develop the skills and allow them to practice responding to many clinical scenario and then mirror on how simulators act, what went correct and what need to be modified. This will provides the nurses to develop skills in making judgement and clinical decision.²

Definition:

Simulation is defined as imitation of certain tasks, equipment, phenomena, cognitive and behaviour which occur in the real life³

Difference between skill lab and simulation lab:

Both simulation and skill lab are setup for developing skills and maintain confidence to implement in clinical setting. But each lab provides a different role in system of nursing education.

Simulation lab:

Simulation laboratory is concept maker and skill development location. Simulation fills the gap between theory coursework and clinical rotation. Simulation lab have nearly like real patients which will responds to commands by student and interacts with them such as blinking eyes, pupillary reaction, turning head, locomotion of body, talk back to the commands, they can cry, open mouth, shows drug movements in the body etc. simulator cannot replace the real patient situation but almost all like real patient scenario.⁴

Skill lab:

Skill lab is what actually it sounds like. It is like putting in to the practice what we learned in the theory as a curriculum. In the skill lab nurses can learn essential skills and practice nursing procedures like vital signs checking, suturing, intra venous canualization, urinary catheterization, IM injection, conducting nursing performance appraisal and evaluation sessions etc.⁵

Types of Simulators:

Different types of simulators are there for many different educational purposes. Kinds of simulators are as follows.

· Low-fidelity simulators

· High-fidelity simulators

· Standardized patient educators

· Screen based computer simulators

· Integrated simulators

· Human patient simulators

Low-fidelity simulators:

Low fidelity simulators give least real to the learners. Here the learners have a very little interaction with simulators. These simulators don’t have an ability to give a feedback.⁶

High Fidelity Simulator:

High fidelity simulators are also termed as human patient simulator. With the help of these simulators we can demonstrate a variety of real patient scenario that can record and play back for further usage. Some time we can do a task and take the printout of the same, for example we can take an ECG printout. This type of simulators is cabled to the computer and then allows the recreation of patient in a real physical situation.⁷

Standardized patient educators:

Patient educators are the one who are trained to show the responsibility of patients or others to give an optimum opportunity to the student nurse’s to practice skills of physical examination, history collection and other useful procedures. Standardized patient educator is an individual hired and intensely trained to mirror like a real patient and there characteristics, so the students are able to learn the skills.⁸

Screen based computer simulators:

This type screen based computer simulators uses a computer and internet programme. They are designed to figure the different kinds of anatomy and physiology or specific scenario. The students learn to take correct clinical decisions. During and after the procedure there will be a feedback or interaction. These simulators can be used individually or group of the students but is inexpensive comparing.⁹

Integrated simulators:

These are the simulators which synchronize the computer technology and whole body or part of the body mannequin. This simulator helps a student’s and the teacher’s highly realistic teaching and learning experiences.¹⁰

Human patient simulators:

This type of simulators uses the advanced technology for nursing and other health care education system. These simulators have the ability to interact with students in the form of realistic physiologic functions including vital signs like pulse, respiration sound normal and abnormal, heart sounds.¹¹

Advantages of simulators in nursing:

There are many more advantages if use of simulator in nursing since it gives an opportunity to commit a mistake and learn the procedure out of it. The following are the advantages of simulators in nursing practice.

· Simulation gives students a guarantee experiences

· Simulation can be customized for learner to learn individually

· Simulation learning is more exact reflective learning especially with human patient simulators

· Simulation increases the standardization and reduces the training variability

· Simulation type of learning is student centered learning instead of general learning

· It allows the individuals independent critical thinking and correct decision making¹²

· Simulation gives an immediate feedback, so that students can learn by their mistake

· It gives an opportunity to practice and experiences rare and critical events

· Simulator can be designed and manipulated so that we can adjust and learn the procedure correctly and clearly

· It allows calibration and update

· Simulation can occur on our own schedule

· This type of simulation is safe and respectful for the patient without harming them

· It offers deliberative experiences¹³

Significance of use of simulation in nursing practice:

We learned many advantages of use of simulators in nursing practice likely we must know the significance of simulation in nursing practice.

Now a days all health care people accept simulation in there practice, the reasons are many which includes

· Patient safety

· Better preparation of nurses

· Shortage of faculties

· limited availability of clinical areas

· Opportunity to practice on vulnerable patients

· Simulators make site for failure

· Simulation learning offer objective reflection

· Learning opportunity practice on important but uncommon events¹⁴

DISCUSSION:

Simulation is one of the methodological techniques which is used in the health care scenario. Nurses are the one who need highly skilful work since they are always working with human being. Ethically and legally nurse should protect from harmful procedures while taking care of the patients and their families. Simulation helps a student nurses and learned nurses to develop skills and make a correct decision in health care setting. There are many types of simulators used in different institutions as per their need. It is well suggested to adopt an advanced methodology in nursing curriculum for better advancement and outstanding productivity in health care location.

CONCLUSION:

Even though simulators are expensive in nature but humans and humanity is more costly than material. If we want better output and productivity in the hospital and any health care setting it is very much essential to adopt a new methodology in teaching and learning in nursing institution. The university and apex bodies are requested to combine a simulation as a mandatory strategy in nursing education system.

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Received on 03.08.2021 Modified on 19.04.2022

Int. J. Nur. Edu. and Research. 2023; 11(1):79-81.

DOI: 10.52711/2454-2660.2023.00017