Aims: The simulation’s aim was to help nursing students prioritize care in an infection control environment and to provide a review of specific skills learned in the prior semester.

Background: Using Patricia E. Benner’s “Novice to Expert” theory, nursing students progress through levels of expertise. In this scenario, nursing students were expected to prioritize care from tasks requiring various levels of infection control. This simulation was conducted prior to beginning hospital clinicals for the semester.

Method: A static manikin was prepared with a central line, a gastric tube, a foley catheter and a leg wound with a known Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infection. The students provided care to the patient from a set of written physician’s orders. Contact isolation precautions were in effect. The physician orders were written without specific sequence. The students gathered supplies to perform central intravenous line care, gastric tube care, foley catheter care and a dressing change. The leg dressing had been saturated with light-sensitive dye that becomes visible under a ultraviolet light. After the scenario and during the debriefing time, the instructor used a ultraviolet light to detect stray fluorescence "glow" dye on the central line, gastric tube or foley catheter as well as the patient gown and bedding and student gowns and faces.

Results: Students did not always prioritize care from “clean to dirty”. Light-sensitive dye was found primarily on patient’s gown and bed linens. The instructor redirected students when initiated care was improperly prioritized.

Conclusions: This instructional scenario received positive feedback from the nursing students. Critical thinking about infection control is minimally developed in this level of student. Instructor prompting was limited to asking the student to rethink their sequence of tasks. This scenario could potentially be used as an assessment for more advanced students or for competency of practicing nurses.