Effects of the Use of High-Fidelity Human Simulation in Nursing Education: A Meta-Analysis

This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of high-fidelity human simulation (HFHS) on cognitive, affective, and psychomotor outcomes of learning.

PubMed, Cochrane Library, EMBASE, CINAHL, and Korean databases were searched. The RevMan program was used for analysis.

A meta-analysis was conducted of 26 controlled trials, with a total of 2,031 nursing students. The use of HFHS tended to have beneficial effects on cognitive and psychomotor domains of learning. In analysis of cognitive outcomes, the weighted average effect size across studies was -0.97 for problem-solving competency, -0.67 for critical thinking, and -2.15 for clinical judgment. The effect size for clinical competence of the psychomotor domain was -0.81.

Use of HFHS might positively impact a high level of cognitive skill and clinical skill acquisition. Further research is required to determine the effectiveness of use of HFHS as an educational strategy to improve knowledge acquisition and communication skills.