901 - Onboarding Nursing Students through Safety Simulation Partnership with Clinical Affiliate

School-based simulation helps to decrease anxiety experienced by nursing students in their first clinical rotation (Khalaila, 2014), while simulation is also used to facilitate role transition in the acute care environment for new nurses (Ackerman, Kenny, & Walker, 2007). A partnership between an ADN program and an affiliate acute care hospital focused on improving safety and quality in patient care in response to patient complaints involving nursing students. To ensure students understood the affiliate organization’s expectations, a simulation was developed using a high-fidelity simulator within a simulated patient room. On their first clinical day, nursing students were asked to stay in the role of a nursing student and carry out tasks involving therapeutic communication and environmental safety. Based on an initial pilot, this safety-focused simulation was successfully implemented at the affiliate organization for nursing students in varying semesters.

Reflecting the affiliate organization’s expectations on safety and communication, a five-point Likert scale survey was employed to determine nursing students’ pre- and post-simulation confidence in the following simulation-based learning objectives:

• Demonstrate the use of AIDET, Behaviors of Excellence, and hand hygiene

• Develop a meaningful nurse-patient relationship through therapeutic communication

• Identify, anticipate, and resolve safety threats within the care environment

Over the course of a year, 18 nursing students from the same school completed the simulation. Survey results found that students had increased levels of confidence in meeting organizational expectations post-simulation. In qualitative reflections, students reported valuing the experience and the simulation at the start of the clinical rotation. Since its inception, this on-boarding simulation has been extended for use with all nursing schools participating in clinical rotations at the affiliate organization.