The “Light Bulb” Moment—How Simulation in Early Experiential Education Sparks Learning Connections

Courtney Gormus, Director, Simulation and Skills Laboratory, makes a beautiful and visual analogy to the step-by-step learning process students training to be nurses experience. She says that every small step in learning is like the very small turn of a light bulb, building slowly, until at last, the bulb is lit, the increments of learning fused, connections formed—bright, beautiful, illumination and true understanding floods our minds.

Start Practicing Early

In Roseman’s Bachelors of Science in Nursing program, the connections seem to form earlier, in part due to the hands-on and safe environment that is the Simulation Laboratory, one powerful tool in the Roseman’s Six-Point Mastery Learning Model toolbox.  Early experiential learning, one of six foundational elements of the Six-Point Mastery Learning Model, places students, irrespective of their program, into an experiential setting early on. Early experiential learning does not just mean early access to patients in the clinical setting, but also exposure to practice sites, simulation or case-based learning. In Simulation, students are placing IV’s, inserting catheters, performing wound care and experiencing many of the real-world elements of Nursing. Roseman nursing students put the “E” in “early” in the second “block” of their 26-week curriculum, two and half weeks into the program, with just one block of didactic curriculum behind them. In stark contrast, many other nursing programs wait six months to a year into the curriculum to expose their students to this kind of learning. “You can teach the didactic all day long every day, but what happens in simulation and the subsequent debriefing, provides not only a safe environment in which to practice, but the chance to understand the realities of being a nurse, delivering patient centered care amidst ratios, budget, new technology and the other pressures nurses experience,” says Gormus.

Experiential Learning in Multiple Forms

In that second block, Health Assessment, students may have up to 6 patients (some mannequins, some live) to assess, requiring them to gather information accurately and then to make decisions quickly about what to do next. Afterwards, students debrief extensively giving them the opportunity for self-reflection, peer input, and overall morale building as students learn from one another.  Some students may make take notes, others may observe, others may role play, providing multiple opportunities to reach students with varied learning styles, not just the kinesthetic learners who may naturally excel in an experiential environment. Gormus also integrates case-based learning as a precursor to working in Simulation. Review of a case in the classroom, prior to experiencing that case in the Simulation lab allows students to first apply critical thinking skills before experiencing the case as it might happen in the real world, building confidence and helping to form the luminous connections of understanding.

Experiencing Empathy in the Lab

In addition to building skills through Simulation, one might wonder if it’s possible to also experience empathy when working with plastic, high-definition mannequins, named “Sim-Mom,” “Sim-Man” and “Sim-Baby.” Gormus has experienced first-hand how empathy can be built in the lab, when she cast a student in the role of the mother of a nine-month old infant with RSV. The “baby”, a high definition mannequin, (too young to speak and with labored breathing) was well attended to by nursing students in the lab. Students assessed the patient, and eventually made an accurate diagnosis. Throughout the process however, the student playing the role of the mother was virtually ignored, left out of the process, a critical puzzle piece in making a diagnosis. Who better to report observations of an infant than their parent? The student cast as mother recounted her experience and voiced feelings of being neglected and ignored in the process. Other students reported having no idea how that might have felt but feeling sadness and regret towards their teammate. With over 90% of Roseman Nursing students without children, this exercise was a powerful lesson in assessment, in the importance of the child-parent connection, but also in empathy. When asked if empathy can be taught, or if it was an inborn trait, Gormus said, “This is a great question and one I hadn’t considered before. Yes, empathy can be taught and simulation allows us to do this, so long as students come in with an open mind and work to not only build skills, but access feelings. I am not sure that lesson would have been so profoundly impactful had it been taught in a lecture.”

Dual Vantage Points

As the Simulation and Skills Laboratory Director, Gormus often witnesses her students building connections of understanding. This may perhaps be even more meaningful to her as she pursues her Advanced Nursing Practice licensure, and ultimately her Doctorate of Nursing Practice. She can see the student experience from her own unique vantage point as teacher and student. One of the first tools used in the Roseman Six-Point Mastery Learning Model toolbox, Simulation proves to be a powerful spark in student learning, connection, and ultimately in building competence.

Author
Vanessa Maniago
Special Advisor to the President
Roseman University of Health Sciences