November 4, 2011

Two faculty members from Drexel’s College of Nursing and Health Professions have published a new book about the use of standardized patient simulation in nursing and health professions – an area in which Drexel has been a national leader. The book, Human Simulation for Nursing and Health Professions, was edited by Linda Wilson, associate clinical professor and assistant dean for special projects, simulation and CNE Accreditation, and Leland “Rocky” Rockstraw, associate clinical professor and assistant dean for simulation, clinical and technology academic operations.  It was published by Springer Publishing Company, LLC.

"Today there is an explosion in the use of simulation in nursing and health professions education,” wrote Gloria Donnelly, dean of the College of Nursing and Health professions, in the book’s description. “The contributors to this text are experts in this format of teaching. They are the designers of the learning spaces, the authors of simulation cases and evaluation methods, the experts who program the human patient simulators and who teach the patient actors to enact the clinical scenarios.”

Wilson and Rockstraw led the development of Drexel’s state-of-the-art Center for Interdisciplinary Clinical Simulation and Practice (CICSP), which uses a variety of hands-on learning techniques to help students in the health professions learn in a safe, simulated clinical environment. The book provides comprehensive guidance for simulation in undergraduate and graduate nursing education, as well as simulation in other health disciplines including rehabilitation sciences, couple and family therapy, and behavior and addictions counseling.