Those looking for help to launch or expand their healthcare simulation scenario library with Geriatric patient case resources will be happy to learn of the NLN‘s “ACES” program! Developed through a collaborative effort between the National League for Nursing and Community College of Philadelphia, Advancing Care Excellence for Seniors (ACE.S) fosters integration of gerontological nursing education — but could be utilized by many different healthcare professions for geriatric simulation scenarios, resources, educational tools and more!
ACE.S Framework
The Essential Nursing Actions enable nursing students and practicing nurses to translate their knowledge of individualized aging, complexity of care, and vulnerabilities during life transitions into actions that promote high quality care for older adults. Use in clinical experiences, skills lab/simulation, and lecture develops students’ knowledge, skills, and abilities related to the care of older adults, while promoting positive perceptions of aging.
Unfolding cases, simulations, and teaching strategies using ACE.S Essential Knowledge Domains and Nursing Actions facilitate the ability of nurses to care for older adults and their caregivers in a way that is competent, individualized, and humanistic.
Next, we highlight the ACE.s teaching strategy resources and simulation patient cases — perfect for SPs!
Teaching Strategies
The teaching strategies offered in this section are guidelines for faculty to develop encounters with older adults that are intentional and that incorporate all or some of the ACE.S Knowledge Domains and Essential Nursing Actions into student learning experiences. The teaching strategies are categorized according to their major focus in the context of the ACE.S Knowledge Domains, but each of them covers more than one of the knowledge domains and essential nursing actions. These domains include:
- Individualized Aging
- Complexity of Care
- Vulnerability During Transitions
Unfolding cases, simulations, and teaching strategies using ACE.S Essential Knowledge Domains and Nursing Action facilitate the ability of nurses to care for older adults and their caregivers in away that is competent, individualized, and humanistic.
Unfolding Patient Cases
An unfolding case is one that evolves over time in a manner that is unpredictable to the learner. New situations develop and are revealed with each encounter. Every ACE unfolding case uses the highly regarded unfolding case model developed for Advancing Care Excellence for Seniors (ACE.S). Each case includes the following:
- A first-person monologue that introduces the family and the complex problems they are facing.
- Clinical Simulation scenarios designed to help students practice assessing function and expectations of their patient(s), with links to appropriate evidence-based assessment tools. Suggestions for debriefing are included.
- An innovative final assignment that asks students to finish the story.
- Instructor toolkits with suggestions on how to use the various components of the unfolding cases and incorporate them into the curriculum.
These unfolding cases combine the power of storytelling with the experiential nature of simulation scenarios. They are intended to create a robust, meaningful experience for students, one that provides a simulated experience of continuity of care and that will help them integrate the Essential Knowledge Domains and Nursing Actions into their practice of nursing. Standardized patient, aka Simulated Patients, are recommended for all ACE simulations.
