Home visit simulation as a public health nursing learning tool

Public health senior nursing students at a Midwestern university often exhibit and express fear, anxiety and overall unease about completing the home visit portion of their public health experience. Faculty developed a home visit simulation to be completed during clinical orientation in an effort to allay student anxiety and assist them in applying previously learned nursing skills to care of a client in the home setting. The simulation included the use of a Sim Man as well as conversion of a classroom to resemble a home setting including placement of Sim Man in a chair and the addition of throw rugs, a television, clothing etc. A convenience sample of all students enrolled in the public health nursing course participated in this study (n = 115). A one group pretest posttest design was utilized to evaluate effectiveness of the simulation. The simulation has been utilized for two cohorts of seniors (fall and spring). A Likert scale tool was used to determine changes in student confidence in their ability to gain access to a client's home, apply the nursing process, exit the client's home and document appropriately. Both cohorts of students indicated an overall increase in confidence after the simulation and comments indicated that the simulation was helpful. From the first use of the simulation to the second, changes were made based on student and faculty feedback. Qualitative feedback from students and faculty indicated that prompting and more teaching during the simulation would possibly be more effective. Feedback after implementation of these changes indicated greater faculty and student satisfaction with the process and outcomes of the simulation.