Dr. Andrea “Andi” Parody is a Research Associate Professor at Old Dominion University. Prior joining the faculty at Old Dominion University to Dr. Parodi served a robust Navy career. She was Head of Nursing Research, Naval Medical Center Portsmouth, VA and was Program Manager for Field Medical Technologies for Navy and Marine Corps at Naval Health Research Center in San Diego, CA. Her work there focused on testing and development of technologic capabilities to support the mission and optimize patient outcomes.
Dr. Parodi works in the Virginia Modeling, analysis and Simulation Center or VMASC. VMASC is a university-wide multidisciplinary research center that emphasizes modeling, simulation, and visualization (MS&V) research, development and education. Dr. Parodi’s talk at ModSimWorld 2014, titled The Use of Serious Games as an Innovative Strategy for Nursing Education focused on how and why technology such as simulation and game-based learning can be used for nursing and physician education. Dr. Parodi’s presentation discussed the advantages and merits of simulation and game-based learning and emphasized that better prepared clinicians correlate to better patient outcomes. While the correlation of well or better educated clinicians and better patient outcomes is not new, applying game-based learning as a mechanism to drive clinical education and better patient out come is. One recent study from Europe linked nursing staffing levels and education levels to decreased mortality. The next question to pursue seems logical to scholars interested in game-based learning. Can the use of serious games in clinical education better prepare clinicians, such that it increases positive patient outcomes?
Special thanks to John Rice for providing us with the image of Dr. Parodi at ModSimWorld 2014 with a copy of Game-Based Teaching for Nursing and Healthcare by Clinical Playground, LLC founder Dr. Eric B. Bauman. Of course a big thank you to Dr. Parodi for referencing the book!
