Simulation as a teaching strategy for nursing education and orientation in cardiac surgery.

Carol A. Rauen is an assistant professor and coordinator of the simulation laboratory at Georgetown University, School of Nursing and Health Studies, Washington, DC. She is also a lecturer and associate with Barbara Clark Mims Associates in Texas. Rauen is a clinical nurse specialist with a master’s degree in trauma and critical care nursing. iology, pathophysiology, cardiopulmonary hemodynamics, electronics, physics, and even engineering in the form of stopcock manipulation. Determining the best method to teach these complex and integrative critical care skills and concepts has long challenged educators and preceptors. One teaching method that is receiving increasing interest from both nursing and medical educators is computer-integrated simulation. In this article, I review simulation as a teaching strategy for education on and orientation to cardiac surgery and outline the experience of a center in which simulation is used in critical care education.