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A small rural health service and two university schools of nursing joined forces to establish a rural clinical school to advance clinical education and research. The collaboration, while in its infancy, has given rise to outcomes that strength the capacity of nursing and midwifery services in the community.

This discussion paper will explore contemporary clinical nursing in Australia and simulation technologies used in universities to educate Bachelor of Nursing (BN) students. Informed by auto-ethnographic principles the authors reflect on their teaching experiences in both clinical and tertiary sectors with specific reference to challenges encountered through the use of simulation technologies. Further, increased reliance on simulation as a teaching tool in nursing education is discussed and techniques for embracing this explored. The authors’ pedagogical goal is to ensure students develop the capacity to competently process patient information, enabling them to safely plan, implement and evaluate interventions and outcomes.

Nurses and midwives collectively, represent the largest workforce category in rural and remote areas of Australia. Maintaining currency of practice and attaining annual licensure with the Australian Health Practitioners Regulatory Authority (AHPRA) present challenges for individual nurses and midwives and for their health service managers. Engagement with information and communication technologies, in order for geographically isolated clinicians to access ongoing education and training, is considered a useful strategy to address such challenges.