Preparing Nursing Students for Career Success through Online Gaming Technology
Dr. Jane Tyerman receives funding to better prepare nursing students for clinical practice
Dr. Jane Tyerman, a faculty member in the Trent/Fleming School of Nursing, and her team of researchers has received a recent boost in funding to help them explore the cost effectiveness of using virtual simulation in Nursing education.
A recent announcement from eCampusOntario for close to $1 million in funding to develop unique new online programs at Trent University, saw Professor Tyerman and her innovative research receive $100, 000 to help better prepare nursing students for clinical practice.
Currently, Nursing students prepare for clinical simulations in a traditional sense with lectures, readings and PowerPoint slides, but Prof. Tyerman’s research will see that pre-simulation teaching shift to an online virtual gaming format. In coordination with the Trent Online team, she’ll create four bilingual virtual games that requires students to apply their knowledge, and ultimately maximize their learning and minimize the anxiety that is associated with learning in a clinical simulation environment. This research project will also determine the cost utility and learning outcomes associated with the use of virtual pre-simulation preparation for clinical simulation teaching and learning in the context of undergraduate Nursing education.
“This grant not only supports a valuable collaboration within Trent University between Nursing and Trent Online, but also involves a multisite collaboration among Ontario nurse educators,” explains Prof. Tyerman. “Through this grant, we will further advance knowledge for simulation education design and delivery within a virtual gaming platform."
Prof. Tyerman is the lead researcher on the project, with support from other Nursing scholars at Queens University, University of Ottawa, Nipissing University, and York University.