INDIANAPOLIS – Ivy Tech Community College is one of ten schools chosen by the National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN®) to participate in a landmark, national, multi-site study of simulation use in pre-licensure nursing programs.  Beginning in the fall of 2011, the NCSBN Simulation Study will monitor incoming nursing students from the Central Indiana region of Ivy Tech from their first day of nursing school through graduation, into their first year of practice.

“It is exciting to have our nursing program selected to be a part of this national study,” said Dr. Kathleen Lee, Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs at Ivy Tech.  “We are very proud of our faculty and the commitment they have made and continue to make to our students and to the field of nursing.  Being selected for this program is recognition of the impact that Ivy Tech is making on Indiana and across the US.”

The NCSBN Simulation Study aims to highlight currently known best practices in simulation use; evaluate the learning occurring with various amounts of simulation substituting for clinical hours; establish key simulation standards and learning experiences in each core clinical course during the study; and evaluate new graduates’ ability to translate educational experiences into the workplace.  To achieve these objectives, students from each of the ten study sites will be randomly assigned to one of three groups: a group where up to 10 percent of the time normally spent at clinical sites will be spent in simulation, a group where 25 percent of the time normally spent at clinical sites will be spent in simulation or a group where 50 percent of the time normally spent at clinical sites will be spent in simulation.

“This study will be revolutionary to nursing education and for the use of simulation,” said Angie Koller, Dean and Associate Professor, Ivy Tech School of Nursing.  “For our Ivy Tech students to be a part of this national study is an honor and very exciting.  These students will help to create evidence based practice that will be a part of creating and changing national nursing education standards for the future.”

NCSBN will monitor students from five associate degree nursing programs and five baccalaureate degree nursing programs through the US.  The NCSBN Simulation Study will be managed by a Study Team from each study site.  The faculty serving on the Ivy Tech Community College – Central Indiana Study Team includes Linda Fluharty MSN, Amy Sorrell Hayes MSN, Lorie Hacker MSN, and Christine Simon MSN.

All ten Study Teams will meet three times over the course of the next six months to learn about facilitating simulation, debriefing techniques and using assessment tools and ratings.  Study Teams will also establish the curriculum that all study sites will utilize over the next two years based on results from a national curriculum survey that was sent to clinicians and nursing schools.  The first of these meetings took place in Chicago, November 30 – December 1, 2010.

Study Teams will monitor students daily, upon completion of each clinical course, after one year in the nursing program, upon graduation and finally, one year post graduation.  The research gathered by the Study Teams will be reported to NCSBN, which will assess nursing knowledge, clinical competence and student satisfaction with the education they received.

It is important for the study to continue one year post graduation to evaluate how well new graduate nurses are able to apply the knowledge they have acquired during nursing school to their practice as new nurses, providing the missing link that has been studied in previous simulation studies.  Researchers will examine and compare clinical and simulation experiences, competencies and level of practice.  The follow–up of graduates into their first year of practice will focus on retention of new nurses and clinical judgment after graduation.

About Ivy Tech Community College
Ivy Tech Community College is the state’s largest public post-secondary institution and the nation’s largest singly-accredited statewide community college system with more than 200,000 students enrolled annually.  Ivy Tech has campuses throughout Indiana.  It serves as the state’s engine of workforce development, offering affordable degree programs and training that are aligned with the needs of its community along with courses and programs that transfer to other colleges and universities in Indiana.  It is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission and a member of the North Central Association.

National Council of State Boards (NCSBN)
The National Council of State Boards (NCSBN) is a not-for –profit organization whose members include the boards of nursing in the 50 states, the District of Columbia and four US territories – American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands and the Virgin Islands.  There are also seven associate members.  Mission: NCSBN provides education, service and research through collaborative leadership to promote regulatory excellence for patient safety and public protection.