Nurse Educators in Washington State Issue Recommendations in Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic

These recommendations were supported by the faculty experts, academic leaders, and institutions of higher education in the State of Washington.

Topics addressed:

Recommendations:

Transition to 100% virtual clinical simulation during the COVID 19 crisis and until opportunities to return to clinical settings are readily available and considered safe for students.
Consider all virtual simulation hours as sufficient to meet program outcomes, clinical course outcomes, and objectives as defined and evaluated by the nursing programs.
Recognize simulation hours as intensive, interactive learning worthy of a 2:1 ratio (two hours of clinical equals one hour of simulation). All simulations will be conducted in accordance to INACSL (International Nursing Association for Clinical Learning and Simulation) Standards of Best Practice.
Eliminate requirements for minimum number of clinical hours for prelicensure programs leaving evaluation of student capacity to meet required end of program outcomes up to the nursing program.