Student nurses should learn more of their skills by practising on dummies and robots, watchdogs say
Student nurses should learn more of their skills by practising on dummies, using virtual reality and robots, instead of using patients as guinea pigs, watchdogs say.
The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) wants to increase the amount of time student nurses spend practising in “simulated” environments, rather than on the ward.
The regulator says changes in technology mean trainees can learn more of their skills on 3D bodies, and using virtual reality.
Currently, strict rules say that just 300 hours of the 4,600 hours student nurses spend in training can be spent in simulated environments.
Next month the regulator will consider removing that limit, leaving it to universities to decide how much time should be spent on specific types of learning. Read more…