Current research supports that using simulation for nursing education will increase a student’s knowledge and self-confidence, but only a handful of research studies have looked at the effect of simulation on skill performance. The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of two educational interventions on measures of knowledge, self-confidence, and skill performance in junior level BSN nursing students.
A nonequivalent control group pretest posttest design was used to examine and compare the effects of the two educational interventions, medium-fidelity simulation and low-fidelity simulation (paper/pencil case study). The student’s knowledge was measured using a multiple choice test, self-confidence was measured with the Self-Confidence in Learning Scale, and skill performance was measured using an objective structured clinical examination (OSCE). The OSCE has been routinely used in medicine to assess medical students’ clinical abilities and is just beginning to be used in nursing.
A pilot study was conducted with a convenience sample of junior nursing students (n = 21) to determine the feasibility of the medium-fidelity and low-fidelity simulations, the knowledge test, and the OSCE. For the full study, the participants consisted of a convenience sample of all students enrolled in a pediatric nursing course (n = 73).
The results of the study indicated that there was a statistically significant difference in self-confidence between the groups with the low-fidelity group scoring higher than the medium-fidelity group. This is an unexpected finding as previous studies have supported that self-confidence was higher in medium-fidelity groups. There also was a statistically significant difference between the pretest and posttest scores on knowledge and skill performance, but not between the two groups. This indicates that medium-fidelity simulation did not result in a higher level of knowledge or skill performance than low-fidelity simulation. Medium-fidelity simulators have a higher cost, both in dollars and faculty time, than low-fidelity simulation. Faculty members and nursing institutions need to identify what the learning outcomes of the educational experience are and determine if a lower technology, that is less expensive and less labor intensive, will have the same learning outcomes as the higher technology.