In light of the pending shortage of healthcare workers due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the Society for Simulation in Healthcare (SSH, www.ssih.org) and the International Nursing Association of Clinical Simulation and Learning (INACSL, www.inacsl.org) has called on all regulatory bodies and policy makers to allow the replacement of healthcare education hours usually completed in a clinical setting with virtually simulated education experiences.
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“Based on the current and anticipated shortage of healthcare workers, we propose that regulatory bodies and policymakers demonstrate flexibility by allowing the replacement of clinical hours usually completed in a healthcare setting with that of virtually simulated experiences during the pandemic,” said INACSL President Dr. Cynthia Foronda and SSH President Bob Armstrong in a joint position statement.
In California, for example, thousands of nursing students who planned to graduate in the coming months are being blocked due to this clinical hour requirement. While policymakers in Texas and New York have readily promoted policy change to assist with the educational challenges related to COVID-19 in the interest of helping needed healthcare workers graduate, other regulatory agencies have remained firm.
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“Virtual simulation has been used successfully to educate healthcare workers for more than a decade,” the statement said. “Further, research has repeatedly demonstrated that use of virtual simulation – for example, simulated healthcare experiences on one’s computer – is an effective teaching method that results in improved student learning outcomes.
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