Simulating rapid response in undergraduate critical care education

This article describes use of high-fidelity patient simulators to simulate patient emergencies in an undergraduate critical care course. Our rapid response scenarios integrate the nursing process, teamwork, communication, and delegation principles to assist students in recognizing and intervening with patients who are physiologically deteriorating and require urgent nursing care. The scenarios were developed to provide students an understanding of who is involved in rapid response situations, how participants behave, and the roles of the registered nurse and an opportunity to practice those roles. Each senior student participates in 8 to 9 patient scenarios, either in the role of the primary nurse, nursing student, nurse associate, or as an observer during the last semester of their senior year.