Preparing the novice critical care nurse: a community-wide collaboration using the benefits of simulation.

This article describes how exploring the need for a continuing education course for the critical care nursing community turned into the development of the Preparing the Critical Care Nurse program. The course offered an opportunity for collaboration between area hospitals and a college of nursing by facilitating the transition of undergraduate nurses to the critical care setting using high-fidelity simulation. Course development, implementation, evaluation, and suggestions for similar courses in the future are presented.