Abstract
Background: Traditional nursing curricula often emphasize isolated psychomotor skill instruction, limiting retention and transfer to complex clinical settings. Previously, students completed a three-hour skills lab followed by a single three-hour simulation. Faculty observed that, even immediately after the skills session, learners struggled to apply those same technical skills in simulation. During “double-day” sessions, both sequencing approaches produced similar performance gaps, revealing a misalignment between knowledge, skills, and reasoning, highlighting the need for a simulation-centered redesign to support contextual skill application.
Purpose: This project aimed to redesign the simulation curriculum to align with AACN Essentials (2021), advancing a competency-based framework emphasizing clinical judgment, systems thinking, and contextual skill integration.
Methods/Implementation: The revised model replaced traditional three-hour skills and simulation blocks with four immersive simulations in one instructional day. Students complete two simulations in the morning and two in the afternoon, each including a prebriefing, a simulation scenario emphasizing integrated skill use, and a structured debriefing. Short resets between sessions support reflection and preparation. Learners repeatedly apply psychomotor and communication skills within realistic patient care contexts. Faculty coach students to seek help from peers or preceptors when uncertain, promoting psychological safety and authentic problem-solving.
Results/Evaluation: Student feedback and faculty observations indicated improved critical thinking, confidence, and skill transfer. Learners demonstrated stronger integration of technical and cognitive skills and appropriate help-seeking behaviors. Faculty reported higher engagement, richer debriefing discussions, and reduced learner anxiety.
Implications: This cost-neutral redesign shows that embedding skill instruction within contextual simulation promotes deeper learning, strengthens clinical reasoning, and enhances practice readiness. Shifting from isolated skill repetition to simulation-based competency development aligns with the AACN Essentials and prepares graduates for safe, evidence-informed care.
Notes
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References:
American Association of Colleges of Nursing. (2021). The Essentials: Core competencies for professional nursing education. AACN.
Elendu, C., Amaechi, D. C., Okatta, A. U., Amaechi, E. C., Elendu, T. C., Ezeh, C. P., & Elendu, I. D. (2024). The impact of simulation-based training in medical education: A review. Medicine, 103(27), e38813. https://doi.org/10.1097/MD.0000000000038813
INACSL Standards Committee. (2021). Healthcare Simulation Standards of Best Practice: Simulation Design, Facilitation, Prebriefing, and Debriefing. Clinical Simulation in Nursing, 58(S1).
Jeffries, P. R., Dreifuerst, K. T., Kardong-Edgren, S., & Hayden, J. (2019). Faculty development when initiating simulation programs: Lessons learned from the NCSBN National Simulation Study. Journal of Nursing Regulation, 9(2), 45–50.
Lasater, K., & Nielsen, A. (2022). The clinical judgment model: Transforming simulation-based education for competency development. Nurse Educator, 47(3), 124–129.
Yang, F., Wang, Y., Yang, C., Zhou, M. H., Shu, J., Fu, B., & Hu, H. (2019). Improving clinical judgment by simulation: a randomized trial and validation of the Lasater clinical judgment rubric in Chinese. BMC Medical Education, 19(1), 20. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-019-1454-9
Additional references included in attached slide deck.
Sigma Membership
Alpha Zeta, Upsilon
Type
Presentation
Format Type
Text-based Document
Study Design/Type
Other
Research Approach
Other
Keywords:
Competence, Curriculum Development, Clinical Competence, Simulation Methods in Education, Clinical Education
Recommended Citation
Pasklinsky, Natalya; Hickey, Mary T.; and Deyeso, Kristy, "Building Competency Through Context: A Simulation-Driven Curriculum Redesign" (2026). International Nursing Research Congress (INRC). 208.
https://www.sigmarepository.org/inrc/2026/presentations_2026/208
Conference Name
37th International Nursing Research Congress
Conference Host
Sigma Theta Tau International
Conference Location
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Conference Year
2026
Rights Holder
All rights reserved by the author(s) and/or publisher(s) listed in this item record unless relinquished in whole or part by a rights notation or a Creative Commons License present in this item record. All permission requests should be directed accordingly and not to the Sigma Repository. All submitting authors or publishers have affirmed that when using material in their work where they do not own copyright, they have obtained permission of the copyright holder prior to submission and the rights holder has been acknowledged as necessary.
Review Type
Abstract Review Only: Reviewed by Event Host
Acquisition
Proxy-submission
Date of Issue
2026-08-24
Building Competency Through Context: A Simulation-Driven Curriculum Redesign
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Background: Traditional nursing curricula often emphasize isolated psychomotor skill instruction, limiting retention and transfer to complex clinical settings. Previously, students completed a three-hour skills lab followed by a single three-hour simulation. Faculty observed that, even immediately after the skills session, learners struggled to apply those same technical skills in simulation. During “double-day” sessions, both sequencing approaches produced similar performance gaps, revealing a misalignment between knowledge, skills, and reasoning, highlighting the need for a simulation-centered redesign to support contextual skill application.
Purpose: This project aimed to redesign the simulation curriculum to align with AACN Essentials (2021), advancing a competency-based framework emphasizing clinical judgment, systems thinking, and contextual skill integration.
Methods/Implementation: The revised model replaced traditional three-hour skills and simulation blocks with four immersive simulations in one instructional day. Students complete two simulations in the morning and two in the afternoon, each including a prebriefing, a simulation scenario emphasizing integrated skill use, and a structured debriefing. Short resets between sessions support reflection and preparation. Learners repeatedly apply psychomotor and communication skills within realistic patient care contexts. Faculty coach students to seek help from peers or preceptors when uncertain, promoting psychological safety and authentic problem-solving.
Results/Evaluation: Student feedback and faculty observations indicated improved critical thinking, confidence, and skill transfer. Learners demonstrated stronger integration of technical and cognitive skills and appropriate help-seeking behaviors. Faculty reported higher engagement, richer debriefing discussions, and reduced learner anxiety.
Implications: This cost-neutral redesign shows that embedding skill instruction within contextual simulation promotes deeper learning, strengthens clinical reasoning, and enhances practice readiness. Shifting from isolated skill repetition to simulation-based competency development aligns with the AACN Essentials and prepares graduates for safe, evidence-informed care.
Description
This session highlights a simulation-centered curriculum redesign that replaced isolated skills training with repeated, contextual simulations. Integrating prebriefing, simulation, and debriefing into a full-day model improved students’ clinical reasoning, confidence, and skill integration while reducing anxiety. Participants will learn cost-neutral strategies to implement a competency-based curriculum aligned with the AACN Essentials to strengthen practice readiness and patient safety.