title: Blending technology in teaching advanced health assessment in a family nurse practitioner program: using personal digital assistants in a simulation laboratory.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This article describes the development and implementation of integrated use of personal handheld devices (personal digital assistants, PDAs) and high-fidelity simulation in an advanced health assessment course in a graduate family nurse practitioner (NP) program. A teaching tool was developed that can be utilized as a template for clinical case scenarios blending these separate technologies.
  
  
  METHODS
  Review of the evidence-based literature, including peer-reviewed articles and reviews.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Blending the technologies of high-fidelity simulation and handheld devices (PDAs) provided a positive learning experience for graduate NP students in a teaching laboratory setting. Combining both technologies in clinical case scenarios offered a more real-world learning experience, with a focus on point-of-care service and integration of interview and physical assessment skills with existing standards of care and external clinical resources. Faculty modeling and advance training with PDA technology was crucial to success.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Faculty developed a general template tool and systems-based clinical scenarios integrating PDA and high-fidelity simulation. Faculty observations, the general template tool, and one scenario example are included in this article.
authors.affiliation: Mission Hospital, Asheville, NC, USA.
authors.forename: Lydia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Elliott
authors.forename: Claire
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: DeCristofaro
authors.forename: Alesia
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Carpenter
mesh_terms: D057179:Advanced Practice Nursing / Q000193:education* / Q000379:methods; D004506:Education, Nursing / Q000379:methods*; D018961:Educational Technology / Q000379:methods*; D022143:Family Nursing / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D008348:Manikins; D015403:Nursing Evaluation Research; D019095:Point-of-Care Systems; D011361:Professional Competence; D013338:Students, Nursing; D013663:Teaching / Q000379:methods*