From May 10 to 14, the School of Nursing of the University of Navarra will host a new edition of the Nursing Summer Schoolwhich on this occasion will be attended by experts in Nursing from 14 different international universities.

This event, which this year will be online due to the pandemic, will feature Susan Kiroy, director of the Clinical Learning Resource Center at the University of Illinois at Chicago, among its speakers. University of Illinois at Chicago ob and simulation expert, who will be part of the UNAV + Singapore + Chicago team. Her goal will be "educating future nurses on how to deliver health care - especially assessment and nursing interventions - internationally".

"It is important that we introduce students to new cultures and different ways of learning. In this sense, participating in the international simulation Education will allow nursing students to think globally as well: to ask questions, understand various cultures, compare interventions and open their eyes to new experiences," stresses the expert.

In the Schwartz Lab where she works, both mannequins and simulated patients are used: "Students practice their assessment healthcare skills and also participate in interventions. Every semester we offer 48 simulation days and almost 1,500 students from different courses train with us, both from Degree and postgraduate program. Some days we rotate up to 96 students on the laboratory".

For the expert, post-simulation debriefing is essential. "We believe that simulation is an excellent tool to generate psychological safety and to reduce the stress of our students by providing them with a safe space".

Substitute simulation for clinical practice

In this regard, the director of the Clinical Learning Resource Center believes that simulation at Degree Nursing "financial aid to develop work teamwork, technical skills, critical thinking and problem solving. In fact, a study by the National Council of State Boards of Nursing Simulation indicates that up to 50% of clinical hours could be replaced by quality simulation."

Furthermore, in the opinion of the U.S. expert, simulation is a great way to provide interprofessionalEducation as it is well known that nurses, physicians, respiratory therapists and other healthcare professionals rarely work in isolation in the clinical setting. It is also a way to fulfill internship clinical hours in a context, the pandemic, which, at least in the U.S., has left fewer faculty and facilities available."

Finally, adds Susan Kiroy, the development of simulation education ensures very high standards and the achievement of best practices, endorsed by the International Nursing Association for Clinical Simulation and Learning (INASCL), the Society for Simulation Health Care (SSH) and the Association of Standardized Patient Educators (ASPE).

Regarding the Nursing Summer School, this specialist highlights its contribution "for students to learn the importance of health equity and methods to improve healthcare delivery through knowledge and nursing interventions in fields as broad as nutrition, mental health, women's health, care of marginalized patients and patients with various pathological processes, etc.". This, coupled with the international outreach of the course, "is a real gift: we nurses are always stronger when we work together," she concludes.