Bambini selected for NLN leadership program

Deborah Bambini, associate professor of nursing, was selected for a yearlong leadership development program for simulation educators through the National League for Nursing.

Following a competitive application process, Bambini was selected for the cohort of 20 nursing faculty members who will study under Pamela Jeffries, associate dean for academic affairs at Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing. Jeffries is a leading expert on clinical simulations and learning.

For Grand Valley’s Kirkhof College of Nursing, Bambini chairs the Simulation Advisory Committee and promotes the integration of clinical learning through simulation. She said the knowledge and experience she gains through the NLN program will greatly aid her work with nursing and health professions colleagues.

The number of simulations exercises has increased greatly, Bambini said. Recently Bambini helped develop an exercise for nursing students in a community health course that focused on discharging patients.

“We created a simulation day in which students provided discharge planning and teaching to standard patients, who were scripted to have certain conditions, personal challenges and home difficulties,” she said.

Cynthia McCurren, dean of KCON, said Bambini’s participation in the NLN program will “maximize learning” for students. “We are most fortunate that she was selected for this opportunity to learn from a diverse group that will further expand her ability to infuse innovation into health education and efforts to promote excellence,” McCurren said.