A Focused Checklist for Constructing Equitable, Diverse, and Inclusive Simulation Experiences

Abstract

BackgroundFor the past six years, the School of Nursing has engaged in a concerted effort to transform our culture into one that deeply embraces inclusion and equity, not only in building awareness and stating intentions, but in strategic actions that lead to sustainable change. MethodThe School's Inclusion, Diversity, and Excellence Achievement Initiative (IDEA) provides a framework to foster sustainable change in the composition, content and context of our learning environment. To approach equity on a systemic level, faculty and staff leaders participated in the University of Southern California's Equity Institute, an 8-week intensive learning series on advancing racial equity. The training provided authors the groundwork to critically assess the learning experiences offered by their Clinical Simulation Learning Center with a goal to continue to build more diverse, inclusive and equity-minded experiences for students, with special attention to eliminating stereotypes and bias. ResultsA team of 6 faculty collaborated to develop a checklist to critically analyze existing simulation learning experiences, and guide new development of equitable and inclusive clinical simulation learning experiences. An equity and inclusivity checklist was developed. ConclusionsDespite limited literature supporting DEI in nursing student simulation education, there are tools from other interprofessional fields centered on diversity and equity, which may be adapted to meet needs of students. Effectively enhancing DEI within nursing education requires a comprehensive review of all aspects of administrative and educational elements including clinical simulation experiences. Hardwiring equitable and inclusive processes into clinical simulations can be fostered through structured checklists.