Are We Teaching Nurses to Pass the NCLEX… or to Survive a Trauma?

A pediatric ICU nurse educator gets real about simulation labs, bedside chaos, and what nursing school is really preparing students for.

If you’ve ever precepted a new grad and thought,“Okay… but what do I actually do right now?”

This episode is for you.

On this week’s At the Nurses’ Station, Kelly and Sam sit down with Jameson — pediatric ICU charge nurse, clinical instructor, and master’s-in-nursing-education student — to talk about what’s changed in nursing education, what COVID did to clinical training, and why simulation labs can only take you so far.

Spoiler: mannequins don’t curse at you, kick you, or ignore your plan of care.

What We’re Talking About

This episode dives into:

* The impact of COVID-19 on nursing clinical hours

* Simulation-based learning vs real bedside experience

* Concept-based nursing curriculum

* Teaching to the NCLEX vs teaching clinical judgment

* Why new grad nurses sometimes struggle with prioritization

* Generational differences in resilience and accountability

* The gap between academia and real-world nursing

Jameson shares how watching students graduate during the pandemic, many with heavily simulation-based clinical experiences pushed him toward teaching.

And he’s on a mission: bring reality back into nursing education.

Because running a trauma isn’t multiple choice.