| Inadequate quality and safety in the United States healthcare system was reported by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) (Committee on the Quality of Health Care in America, 2001). A summit of leaders convened by the IOM in 2002, defined multi-disciplinary health care education competencies required to provide safe care (Committee on the Health Professions Education Summit, 2003). In response, the Quality and Safety Education for Nurses Project (QSEN, n.d.) delineated sets of knowledge, skills, and attitudes (KSA) required for competency achievement. The DNP capstone described here was a quality improvement project in which a team of nursing faculty developed, implemented, and evaluated simulation activities designed to foster QSEN competency in associate degree students. The National League for Nursing/Jeffries Simulation Framework and Rogers Diffusion of Innovations theory guided project development. Individual QSEN KSA were embedded into learning outcomes, unfolding scenarios, and debriefing questions of two simulations. Nursing faculty members were trained in simulation debriefing methodology. Outcome measurement, using confidence scales, suggests improved faculty confidence in fostering QSEN KSA using simulation, and improved student self-confidence in achieving QSEN learning outcomes after participation in simulation. Findings imply that integrating QSEN KSA into simulations is a useful method to promote student competency in providing safe health care. |
