A regional partnership to promote nursing instructor competence and confidence in simulation

Clinical simulation is an innovative, research-based instructional strategy, and many faculty report not being adequately prepared to use this type of teaching strategy. Instructors in both academia and hospital staff development report reluctance to incorporate this new teaching methodology into the curriculum because they have negative attitudes about their own level of competence and confidence in using the simulators with students. Instructors clearly require training to help them understand the pedagogy, educational theory, and effective use of high-fidelity manikins. To promote simulation as a teaching strategy, a partnership was formed between academia (associate degree in nursing/bachelor of science in nursing) and staff development departments to train their instructors in an efficient, effective, and timely manner. This article describes a regional academic partnership between nursing programs and service partners in a 13-county region in the Texas Gulf Coast that used a train-the-trainer model and other activities to promote the use of simulation.