This chapter describes how simulation fits the needs for 21st-century nursing education. It covers the aspects include the changing needs for nursing education in a technologically complex environment, how to succeed when incorporating simulation, the importance of the faculty role in embedding simulation throughout the nursing curriculum, meeting the challenges of clinical placement, and specific challenges and benefits to integrating simulation into the curriculum with an evidence-based practice focus. Simulation provides the missing piece for nursing education through harnessing each student’s enthusiasm for technology into an interactive and valuable learning experience in which to engage in critical thinking (Radhakrishnan, Roche, & Cunningham, 2007). Simulation takes on a life of its own, thus becoming "real" to the students. In conclusion, this chapter has emphasized the importance of integrating a simulation-focused pedagogy throughout the curriculum to best meet the needs of our program.

Educators use simulation in seminar experiences to teach key concepts from lecture and reading assignments in order to encourage critical thinking among students in all phases of the nursing program. Some of their important focuses are evidence-based practice, standards of care, and patient safety. This chapter presents a scenario of acute management of a patient in pulmonary edema. Overall objectives of the scenario are for students to demonstrate critical thinking skills in the care of the complex patient. Students must be able to identify inconsistencies with hand-off communication, recognize symptoms, and establish treatment options for acute respiratory distress as a result of congestive heart failure or pulmonary edema. It is recommended that students have basic knowledge from lecture regarding congestive heart failure and pulmonary edema prior to the scenario. In addition, there should be a discussion regarding treatment of respiratory distress and medications most frequently used.

The interprofessional simulation in this chapter is ideal for nursing students in prelicensure baccalaureate, registered nurse (RN)-to-Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) students, or graduate programs. It serves pharmacy, respiratory, or medical students and is appropriate for a professional development activity for health care professionals responding to cardiac emergencies. St. John’s College of Nursing in Springfield, Illinois, offers this simulation in the baccalaureate program to medical-surgical students during their penultimate semester in the program, after completion of two other medical-surgical courses spiraled in difficulty. This simulation-based pedagogy allows evidence-based practice in a faculty-supported environment where students can gain confidence and learn from their actions, as well as by observing interprofessional peers. Respiratory care students complete the advanced cardiovascular life support (ACLS) provider course before this interprofessional education (IPE) and have additional prereading about cardiovascular resuscitation.

Experiences for the obstetric and pediatric clinical areas are becoming difficult to acquire for students, as increasing numbers of students compete for a small number of slots, and constraints on the numbers of students allowed in clinical settings continue to rise. As postpartum hemorrhage (PPH) constitutes an obstetric emergency and remains a major cause of maternal morbidity and mortality in high- and low-resource countries, using a simulator offers an ideal opportunity for students to practice their skills in simulated PPH. This chapter presents a scenario that was modified and used at the University of British Columbia (UBC) School of Nursing (SoN) since January 2015. Student preparation requires readings, videos, and evidence-based practice protocols for PPH. This scenario is a high-risk case that could be used to educate new staff to family birthing units and obstetric floors, as well as undergraduate and graduate nursing students.

This chapter presents a simulation activity that incorporates the students’ knowledge of psychiatric illness and risk assessment with a focus on mood disorders and substance abuse. The simulation exercise builds on skills in therapeutic communication, lethality assessment, and recognition of signs and symptoms of major depression and alcohol abuse. Postscenario discussion can assist in clarifying issues in documentation, patient rights, and legal requirements of mental health nursing practice. The simulation activity presented in this chapter specifically helps students to meet objectives for the mental health nursing course in the following areas: identifying risk factors for psychiatric disorders, developing therapeutic communication skills and planning appropriate evidence-based care for psychiatric patients, recognizing ethical and legal issues as they present in patients with psychiatric illness, and understanding the role of the nurse based on the American Nurses Association (2014) standards of practice for psychiatric-mental health nursing.

This chapter helps the learner to identify strategies for change; explore change theories; evaluate the role of the MSN-prepared nurse in the change process; identify key steps of the evidence-based practice process; and evaluate evidence-based practice models for use. All nurses are leaders, regardless of their position, through their advocating, teaching, and empowering. However, being a change agent often takes a more deliberate approach. Nurses make up the largest portion of the healthcare workforce. Change management can be a specialty on its own, but has implications on many other fields including nursing. Although there are many change theories, nearly all are based on the work of Kurt Lewin, who is often regarded as the father of change management. The chapter reviews several theories including Lewin’s Change Theory, Spradley’s Change Theory, and the Shewhart’s cycle.

In 1980, the structure identified as Introduction, Methodology, Results, and Discussion (IMRaD) attained preeminence in scientific, medical, and nursing disciplines as the established format for presentations and publications. This chapter helps the reader by describing the purposes of the IMRaD sections and in incorporating evidence-based practice (EBP) and quality improvement (QI) into each IMRaD section. The introduction section tells the reader why the Doctor of Nursing Practice project was undertaken, and the methodology explains how it was undertaken. The purpose of the results section is to display and describe the outcome information gathered in the methodology section. The analysis of data, presented in the results section, is included as part of the discussion section. The chapter reviews the adaptation of EBP and QI projects to the IMRaD format and discusses the Standards for Quality Improvement Reporting Excellence 2.0 (SQUIRE 2.0) guidelines which are easily adaptable to the IMRaD format.

Public health nurses (PHNs) practicing to the full extent of their education and licensure as clinical experts can assure the provision of high-quality, evidence-based care for populations affected by disasters. The role of the PHN in a disaster event must be recognized and understood by all partners within a multidisciplinary emergency response team. The role of the PHN must continue to evolve and expand to reflect the changing landscape of public health practice. The guiding principles of public health nursing practice are well suited to the role of the PHN in a disaster. The rich history of public health nursing illustrates the enduring contribution nurses have made in responding to disasters and aiding communities in their recovery process. Public health has always been about protecting and promoting the health of entire communities. PHNs provide leadership in planning, preparing, and responding to disasters and public health emergencies.