Nursing education faces many challenges. Students assume that they will be taught the requisite skills to become competent nurses. Employers assume that the nursing degree and the licensure certify competent performance. The University of Colorado School of Nursing, like other schools of nursing, is currently in the process of implementing an outcomes-focused curriculum in its four nursing education programs at the baccalaureate, master's, nursing doctorate, and doctor of philosophy programs. These programs will include simulation as an educational strategy.
A doctorate in nursing can take many forms including Doctor of Nursing, Doctor of Nursing Practice, Doctor of Nursing Science and Doctor of Nursing Philosophy. Each one of these specialty areas allows for further differentiation depending on the students need and goals. Simulation would most likely be a part of a Doctorate in Nursing Practice.
Suling Li, PhD, RN for the National Council of State Boards of Nursing discusses simulation as a teaching strategy, not a technology, in schools of nursing. Simulators replicate a task environment with sufficient realism to serve a desired purpose. Nursing students can be exposed to realistic, high-needs patients without the risk to the client or health care system.