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What nursing students can expect in a simulated clinical skills session, and how they can help you gain hours for registration
Nursing students can gain practical experience in simulated sessions using manikins that are not only safe but also boost their skills and confidence. ‘Clinical skills sessions offer nursing students the opportunity to practice hands-on nursing skills from the basics of personal care to the more complex skills of cannulation, IV fluids and nasogastric tube insertion,’ explains University of East Anglia lecturer in clinical studies Charlotte Hilburn.
Nursing Standard. 39, 8, 49-50. doi: 10.7748/ns.39.8.49.s17
Published: 31 July 2024
University of East Anglia third-year adult nursing student Courtney Balaam says: ‘I’ve enjoyed the clinical skills sessions. The clinical skills lecturers talk about their own experiences and share the things they’ve tried – which I’ve learned a lot from.
‘As well as our regular clinical skills sessions we have a drop-in clinic, which I’ve used to practise the trickier skills, and there’s always someone on hand to help.
‘The environment is very realistic, with high-tech manikins, so they have a heart rate and you can check their blood pressure and hear them breathing, and they can be programmed to mimic a patient deteriorating.
Bringing theory and practice together
‘I’m working on a placement now in a busy A&E department and it’s useful to have been able to practise things like venepuncture and cannulation.’
University of Bradford first-year children’s nursing student Melanie Bell says: ‘I’m a practical learner, so have appreciated the clinical skills sessions, where you can bring theory and practice together. I’ve learned new techniques, such as manual blood pressure, and assisting adults as well as children. I have already used some of the techniques when out on placement, such as how to talk to people who are struggling with their mental health.’
‘It’s all done in a safe environment, where students can make mistakes without causing harm,’ she adds. ‘Students tell us that their skills sessions give them the confidence to transfer what they’ve learned into practice more safely and confidently.’
‘The opportunity for placements in some areas, such as primary care, is limited, so it’s useful to be able to use simulation’
Victoria Whaley, associate professor of nursing studies, the University of Bradford
University of Bradford associate professor of nursing studies Victoria Whaley has also been instrumental in setting up clinical skills sessions for nursing students, which she says can fill gaps in training.
‘The opportunity for placements in some areas, such as primary care, is limited, so it’s useful to be able to use simulation,’ she says.
‘Those on mental health placements might not have the opportunity to practise things like catheterisation but will still need to pass this skill to qualify. Students also have the opportunity to do things several times over.’
For some students, placement experience will not be enough to enable them to sign off all the skills required for registration with the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC).
‘Some hospital trusts won’t allow students to carry out some procedures, such as venepuncture and cannulation, but the NMC requires students to have performed these in order to pass the course, so they can do so in a supervised simulated setting,’ says Ms Hilburn.
Current NMC guidelines state that all nursing students are required to complete 2,300 hours of practice to register, up to 600 of which can be simulated practice.
Although 19 universities are currently approved by the NMC to deliver up to 600 hours of simulated learning across the three years, how much they actually offer varies.
Universities running clinical skills sessions may tailor them to the training stage students are at, as well as running pre-placement sessions. ‘Simulation can be as small as role play, or more technical with the use of high-spec manikins, recording and even virtual reality,’ says Ms Hilburn.
‘Alongside practical nursing skills, there is a big emphasis on core skills such as respect, dignity and professionalism. We also simulate the everyday situations nurses will encounter, such as handing over patients, multidisciplinary team meetings and prioritisation – the sessions involve a lot of role play.’
Ms Whaley says first-year students, especially those who do not have any healthcare experience, also benefit from sessions on basics such as medication administration.
‘We have recently run a session with first-year students where we got them familiar with all the different types of prescriptions, and how to administer common medications. For example, they practised the correct way to apply emollient cream to someone with dry legs.’
» Prepare Try to find out the skills you will be covering and familiarise yourself with them beforehand, using a resource such as clinicalskills.net. ‘You can always tell if a student has prepared well, and they get more out of the sessions,’ says University of Bradford associate professor of nursing studies Victoria Whaley
» Turn up on time University of East Anglia lecturer in clinical studies Charlotte Hilburn says: ‘This is part of professional behaviour, and gets things off to a good start’
» Check the dress code Clinical skills sessions usually require students to wear uniform and suitable footwear, with hair tied back and no false fingernails
» Engage fully with the debrief ‘This is a vital part of the day to review and gain feedback,’ says Ms Whaley
» Provide feedback on the session ‘We usually ask students for feedback on the sessions, which is useful for planning the next ones,’ says Ms Hilburn
» Attend drop-in clinic sessions if they are available These are an opportunity to practise clinical skills with someone on hand to help if needed
Clinical skills sessions aim to mimic the environment in a ward or other healthcare setting as closely as possible. The patients are usually manikins or may in some cases be real people.
Ms Whaley has previously brought in volunteers from an experts by experience patient group and even drama students.
The sessions aim to mimic the environment of a ward or other healthcare setting as closely as possible
Picture credit: Neil O’Connor
‘We have used other students, including running a great joint day with the drama department, where everyone really got into their roles,’ she says.
Simulation activities are planned in detail, Ms Hilburn says, ‘to provide students with common case studies of patients with ailments that they are likely to encounter on placements’.
‘We have most of the equipment you would find in a hospital situation,’ she says.
‘Debrief is seen as a skill in itself which, once they are confident, students are expected to lead themselves. This could be a discussion or reflective activity.
‘Once students have mastered a range of skills we run larger simulation events. For example, we recently ran a whole ward simulation and even a major incident simulation day.
‘All of our sessions are filmed, which some students can take a little while to get used to, but it’s useful to be able to watch a session back and discuss how it went and get peer feedback.’
Student-led wards: can they boost clinical skills and confidence?
