BBCC instructor completes medical simulation study

Technician standing by a manikin

MOSES LAKE — Big Bend Community College Simulation Technology instructor Tiffany Zyniewicz recently completed a major study showing the effectiveness of using medical simulation in nursing education.

Zyniewicz received her Ph.D. in Nursing Leadership from the University of Southern Mississippi earlier this month. Her dissertation explored the outcomes of using simulation to replace traditional clinical time in pre-licensure nursing programs.

Her study looked at more than 800 nursing students from programs across the country. Zyniewicz found strong evidence that nursing programs could utilize a 1-to-1 or 1-to-2 replacement ratio without having a significant difference in ATI Adult Medical Surgical Proctored Assessment scores or NCLEX pass rates.

“The results of my study are really very exciting. My study findings indicate that pre-licensure nursing programs can utilize a 1-to-1 or 1-to-2 simulation-to-traditional clinical replacement ratio (I.e., 1 hour of simulation to replace 1 hour of traditional clinical or 1 hour of simulation to replace 2 hours of traditional clinical) in a second or senior-level adult medical surgical course without differences in outcomes,” said Zyniewicz.

Last month, Zyniewicz shared her results with the Council on Nursing Education in Washington State, a group comprised of deans and directors from all approved nursing education programs in Washington. She also plans to publish her work over the summer.

Zyniewicz has been involved in simulation education since 2006. She has served both as Simulation Coordinator and Director of the Clinical Performance Lab at Seattle University College of Nursing and was most recently the Simulation Center Director for Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College.

Her background is in nursing, primarily in pediatrics. Her Masters in Nursing from Seattle Pacific University was double-focused as a Clinical Nurse Specialist and a Nurse Educator.

Zyniewicz currently serves as Secretary for the Pacific Northwest Healthcare Simulation Collaborative. She has taught at Big Bend since Winter Quarter 2018.

“I fell in love with simulation as a teaching tool immediately after being asked to ‘get the manikin out of the box’ and start teaching with it. I saw the power simulation had to truly transform how we teach healthcare students,” said Zyniewicz. “I also saw how reflective learning, in the form of debriefing, seemed to have such a lasting impact on my nursing students. I was immediately hooked, I ran with it, and I haven’t looked back after 12 years of using simulation in teaching nursing and other healthcare students.​”

Here at Big Bend, Zyniewicz teaches courses on medical equipment commonly used in simulation. It’s one of the first courses students in the program have to take.

“I love that I get to work with students who are very fresh, very green, and introduce them to different types of medical equipment and how they might use it in simulation,” she said.

The BBCC Simulation Technology program prepares students for entry-level employment in simulation centers and laboratories, where they’ll run realistic simulation scenarios for healthcare providers, first responders and even military personnel. State-of-the-art equipment and quality instructors is key to that preparation.

“Tiffany is truly an expert in the field of simulation,” said Simulation Technology Coordinator Dana Borschowa. “Our students benefit from having instructors, like Tiffany, that are industry experts.”

To learn more about the BBCC Simulation Technology program, click HERE.

Technician with birthing mom simulator

 

 

first responder simulation training

 

 

 

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