Abstract:
This CE webinar will review how pediatric simulation escape rooms were used to evaluate knowledge and self-efficacy among Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP) students.
Competency in pediatric knowledge and skills are an essential component for the family nurse practitioner role. Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP) Students assume a passive role in traditional classroom settings making difficult the ability of faculty to evaluate clinical learner knowledge, self-efficacy, and clinical decision-making. To meet the learning expectations of this student population, educators must design programs that are innovative, engaging and technologically advanced. The hypothesis were:
1. Do family nurse practitioner students demonstrate the knowledge and self-efficacy required to perform safe, effective, high-quality competent care to pediatric patients based on pre-selected practice critical indicators?
2. Does the use of escape rooms as a teaching platform provide the impact and effectiveness required to evaluate strengths and weaknesses in knowledge and level of self-efficacy in pediatric clinical decision-making among family nurse practitioner students?
Methods: Approval from the Institutional Review Board of UNC Charlotte was obtained prior to implementation of this mixed-method research. A pre-test obtained student demographic data and self-evaluation of baseline levels of knowledge and self-efficacy in the application of clinical decision-making process in the care of pediatric patients. Sixteen family nurse practitioner students were randomly divided into 4 groups and participated in five escape rooms. Each room depicted a pediatric health condition and an atypical caregiver, including high-fidelity patient simulators and standardized participants. Limited patient background information and diagnostic results were available to learners prior to each patient interaction. Rooms were organized in a scaffolding method of increasing patient complexity. Each simulation scenario adhered to the Healthcare Simulation Standards of Best Practice. Teams had to identify all critical elements of the scenario and arrive at a correct diagnosis to escape each room.
Results: Participants self-reported knowledge and self-efficacy using a pre-test and post-test. Comparison of the tests revealed a substantial increase in individual confidence levels for providing evidence-based care to infants through adolescents. Increases in knowledge and self-efficacy were also seen in the areas of asking children about their health, obtaining health history from caregivers, and initiating appropriate interventions with the interprofessional team. Debriefing sessions were transcribed verbatim and reviewed for accuracy. Participant themes identified included safe learning through simulation and improved self-efficacy in the care of pediatric patients. Students evaluated the simulation experience using the National League for Nursing’s Student Satisfaction and Self-Confidence in Learning instrument. Using a five-item Likert scale, students reported a mean satisfaction with the learning of 4.99 and a mean self-confidence in the learning of 4.88.
Conclusions: The findings from the research support the use of escape rooms as an effective teaching platform to evaluate family nurse practitioner students’ strengths and weaknesses regarding pediatric clinical decision-making. The research findings also provide essential information regarding the most effective method for improving student knowledge and self-efficacy in the care of pediatric patients. Escape rooms can improve student confidence, knowledge, and self-efficacy, while providing students with a safe place to practice safe, competent patient care. Further, this research study adds to the body of knowledge on the use of innovative learning strategies in graduate nursing education.
Learning Objectives:
- Explore the need for engaging learning strategies that allow evaluation of clinical decision making in FNP students.
- Detail the design and implementation of a multi-patient pediatric simulation escape room.
- Discuss research findings and implications of qualitative and quantitative data in such nursing simulation experiences.
