On the Record: An Innovative Simulation Teaching Resource to Teach Undergraduate Nurses How to Write Legally...

Good patient documentation writing skills are an essential component of a nurse's portfolio to satisfy the professional and legal requirements of record keeping. Traditionally, however, documentation is viewed as a dry topic as it is not always applied well to practical situations; therefore, this topic readily lends itself to being delivered in an innovative and engaging way. This pilot study used a low fidelity simulated "courtroom" session to teach this essential nursing skill to undergraduate nurses.

The pilot study took place with three cohorts of undergraduate nurses (n = 200) from all four fields of nursing in the second year of a 3-year Bachelor of Science nursing program.

These results were captured in a variety of ways and evaluated using Kirkpatrick and Kirkpatrick's four-level evaluation model. The results indicated that the simulation engaged and focused students in an interactive way.

The pilot study results indicated that a move away from traditional didactic teaching to a more customized method of learning accommodates the documented trends of learning styles across different generations. This pilot study has led to a university-wide study involving students and staff from three different faculties. [.