Cub Ward: The Real Not Real Ward – a student nurse led simulation ward

Higher demand for placements, due to Covid-19 training delays and increased student numbers resulted in placement demand exceeding opportunities. Therefore, a student simulated ward (Cub Ward) was created. A disused ward was transformed into a functioning ward with high and medium fidelity mannequins as patients. The ward was completely led by student nurses. A part 3 student was Nurse-in-Charge while remaining students took on the role of Staff Nurses, and part 1 students remained as “student nurses”. Learning outcomes were: • Develop an understanding of how clinical areas function; • Discuss prioritisation in clinical care; • Understand patient management throughout a shift; • Explore management of workload and resources; • Analyse effective communication with MDT A real-time simulated shift included medication administration, patient cares, admissions, discharges, recognition and escalation of deteriorating children. Students also had to manage parents, ward visitors and various ward rounds. Pre and post confidence scales showed improvement for all student groups. Some unintended benefits included involvement of the MDT in the student experience. Peer support and teaching was evident throughout the day, as was resolution for issues encountered for example identifying poor allocation and reallocating accordingly.