Faculty Attitudes Toward the Utilization of High-fidelity Human Patient Simulation in Nursing Education

Patient safety is an immediate concern of today\u27s ever changing health care system. Nurses play a major role in patient safety and must be taught skills to ensure they are well-prepared for the many complexities they will face. One way nursing schools can enhance student learning by providing unique, experiential teaching is through the utilization of high-fidelity human patient simulation. Many schools of nursing face challenges with implementation of this technology because faculty lack receptiveness to its use for a variety of reasons. The purpose of this research proposal was to examine nursing faculty attitudes toward the utilization of high-fidelity human patient simulation in nursing education. It also examined the influence of attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control on faculty\u27s intention to use simulation. The relationship between attitudes toward simulation and actual use of the technology were also determined. The conceptual framework for this study was based on Ajzen\u27s theory of planned behavior and the concepts of attitude, subjective norm, perceived behavioral control, intention to use simulation, and actual use of the technology. A descriptive, correlational design was utilized for this study using a survey format sent out to nursing faculty via the secure online site Survey Monkey. A convenience sample of 57 nursing faculty from five Midwestern colleges and universities completed the survey. Data were obtained by using The Faculty Attitudes and Intent to Use Related to the Human Patient Simulator (HPS) survey developed by King et al. (2008). Data were collected related to the above concepts. The scores on the survey indicated that, overall, the attitudes of nursing faculty toward the utilization of high-fidelity human patient simulation were positive. The overall attitude composite mean score was 4.2 which was a positive finding. This study I also found that an association exists between faculty\u27s attitude and intention to use simulation. With a positive attitude toward simulation, faculty rated their intention to use simulation higher. It was also determined that faculty who rated their intention to use simulation higher also scored higher on the subjective norm subscale which indicated that the opinions of others regarding simulation use are important to nursing faculty. Narrative comments were analyzed and clustered. A number of positive and negative aspects to human patient simulation were identified. Results from this study indicated that while faculty have overall positive attitudes toward simulation, nursing schools, administrators, faculty, and the public can do little things to make simulation more appealing to nursing faculty