Delivering a collaborative simulation experience

In the UK, clinical placements are a significant source of practical experience and equip students with the skills required for nursing. The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a shortage of clinical placements available to students. To address this problem, the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) introduced emergency standards allowing higher education institutions (HEIs) and their practice partners to deliver up to 600 hours of simulated practice learning within the 2300 practice learning hours students must complete (NMC, 2024). The emergency standards have now been made a permanent standard.

The University of Bolton prides itself on being an inclusive HEI; 17% of students undertaking the BSc Adult Nursing programme are known to have a disability, which may require reasonable adjustments and supportive strategies to enable them to reach their full potential within the nursing degree programme. The team used a blended learning approach to facilitate and support equality, diversity, and inclusion – this is a strategy combining traditional teaching and simulation with different online learning (Li et al, 2019). Using a combination of patient-focused case studies, group work, acute and community clinical skills development, screen-based simulations, virtual reality (VR), escape rooms, face-to-face simulations and a nurse simulation course facilitated by an external company, we have created a 3-week simulated placement.