New Technologies in Educational Programs to Enhance Nurse Graduate Practice Readiness

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To Offset Fewer Clinical Training Sites, 65 Percent of Nursing Education Programs Now Rely on Virtual Simulation

Wolters Kluwer Health (@wkhealth) announced the results of a survey on technology utilization in nursing education that found a significant increase in the use of virtual simulation and other new technologies. Specifically, “Future of Technology in Nursing Education” revealed that 65 percent of nursing education programs use virtual simulation, while virtual reality utilization will increase from 10 percent to as much as 45 percent over the next five years in response to the worsening shortage of clinical training sites.

Along with closing that training gap, the survey identified the growing demand for practice-ready nurses as the primary drivers of accelerated technology adoption in nursing education:

• 63 percent of respondents cited the influence of the evolution of technology utilization in practice
• 39 percent pointed to limited availability of sites for students to hone clinical skills

Developed in collaboration with the National League for Nursing (NLN) Center for Innovation in Simulation and Technology, the survey mirrored the well-known Horizon Report on technology in the broader higher education market. It consisted of multiple in-depth telephone interviews with nursing industry thought-leaders and a quantitative online survey that yielded responses from nearly 500 nursing faculty and administrators.

Evolution of Technology in Nursing Education
The survey, which was released at the 2017 NLN Education Summit that took place Sept. 14-16 in San Diego, Calif., also revealed that nursing education programs are adopting new technology at a faster pace than general education. That conclusion was based on the rate of technology adoption in the broader general education market identified in the Horizon Report, and was attributed to the need to address issues unique to nursing education. For example:

• 64 percent use adaptive quizzing models
• 60 percent use electronic health records

“This survey confirms the important role nurse educators play in advancing the use of technology in the classroom through their willingness to act as early adopters and trailblazers,” said Julie Stegman, Vice President and Publisher, Nursing Education, Wolters Kluwer Health Learning, Research & Practice. “By seeking out innovative technologies like adaptive quizzing and virtual simulation, nurse educators are helping to overcome resource challenges and pave the way for their peers in other areas of higher education to also benefit from these advances.”

Technologies used by nursing programs will evolve over the next five years, with many of the most popular current technologies being replaced by next-generation solutions:

• Use of videos for skills development will drop from 84 percent to 56 percent in the next five years, while virtual reality will jump from 10 percent to 45 percent.
• Lower-cost technologies like mobile apps will rise from 41 percent to 59 percent in five years
• More complex technologies like data analytics tools will take relatively longer for adoption, with their use increasing from 14 percent to 34 percent in the same timeframe.

Ahead of the Technology Curve
“This is yet another area where nursing education is forging its own path,” said Sue Forneris, PhD, RN, CNE, CHSE-A, Excelsior Deputy Director, NLN Center for Innovation in Simulation and Technology. “Where general education is expected to focus on adaptive learning and ‘Internet of Things’ technologies over the next five years, nursing programs will be implementing virtual reality and data analytics tools. This difference is due in part to the fact that nursing education has already made adaptive learning a core component, but also because the targeted technology address unique needs in nursing education and practice.”

For example, Wolters Kluwer launched its adaptive learning platform 2010 for use in medical-surgical nursing curriculum. Today, PrepU has an offering for every core course in the nursing curriculum, and its adaptive quizzing engine is integrated into Lippincott CoursePoint, Lippincott PassPoint, and Lippincott CoursePoint for Nursing Concepts.

Wolters Kluwer and Laerdal Medical also co-developed vSim for Nursing, an online virtual simulation tool, based on evidence-based patient scenarios created by the NLN. Lippincott DocuCare, an EHR training solution from Wolters Kluwer, also Includes patient records that correspond to NLN and Laerdal simulation scenarios, which help create a realism in clinical education that is unrivaled by any competitor.

Obtain the “Future of Technology in Nursing Education” survey highlights.

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