Abstract
Background: In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Indiana University (IU) South Bend nursing faculty created a virtual clinical day that included synchronous and asynchronous experiences to replace 50% of traditional clinical hours in a 1:1 exchange to realistically imitate an in-person clinical day. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate existing outcome data to support the replacement of a traditional clinical experience with a virtual clinical experience as a valid pedagogical strategy to meet clinical student learning outcomes. Methods: Descriptive statistics were used to measure mean values of evaluation data for students who participated in the virtual simulated clinical experience (VSCE). Additionally, aggregate final course grades were compared between the group of students who participated in the VSCE and those who did not. Results: When compared with a traditional clinical day, all respondents believed that the VSCE was equal to or better than the traditional clinical setting for promoting critical thinking and meeting course outcomes. Evaluation of final course grades in the corequisite didactic course demonstrated equal or better performance than students in the traditional clinical setting only. Conclusion: Even though this experiment resulted in a successful outcome, it is essential to continue with rigorous research to demonstrate the effectiveness of a virtual clinical experience as a substitute for face-to-face clinical or simulation hours.
Highlights
In March 2020, the need for Indiana University (IU) South Bend School of Nursing to find a solution to replace traditional clinical hours with a virtual experience became urgent with the COVID 19 Shelter in Place orders
The School of Nursing and both hospital systems in the community worked tirelessly to create a safe process for IU South Bend nursing students to continue to meet clinical requirements in most traditional clinical settings, there was a need to create an acceptable replacement for 50% of required clinical hours in the pediatrics course due to low patient census
Findings from this small-scale study add to the existing body of knowledge in the literature supporting up to 50% replacement of traditional clinical experiences with simulated clinical experiences (Hayden et al, 2015) and concur with findings of positive student perceptions of a virtual simulated clinical experience from a similar study conducted during the pandemic (Palancia Esposito & Sullivan, 2020)
Summary
In March 2020, the need for IU South Bend School of Nursing to find a solution to replace traditional clinical hours with a virtual experience became urgent with the COVID 19 Shelter in Place orders. The School of Nursing and both hospital systems in the community worked tirelessly to create a safe process for IU South Bend nursing students to continue to meet clinical requirements in most traditional clinical settings, there was a need to create an acceptable replacement for 50% of required clinical hours in the pediatrics course due to low patient census. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Indiana University (IU) South Bend nursing faculty created a virtual clinical day that included synchronous and asynchronous experiences to replace 50% of traditional clinical hours in a 1:1 exchange to realistically imitate an in-person clinical day. Conclusion: Even though this experiment resulted in a successful outcome, it is essential to continue with rigorous research to demonstrate the effectiveness of a virtual clinical experience as a substitute for face-to-face clinical or simulation hours
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