Instructor-led vs. peer-led debriefing in preoperative care simulation using standardized patients

Area of Science:

• Nursing Education
• Simulation-Based Learning
• Medical Education

Background:

• Debriefing is crucial for identifying and addressing knowledge and skill gaps in learners.
• While various debriefing methods exist in simulation, empirical evidence on peer-led debriefing effectiveness, particularly with standardized patients, is limited.
• This study addresses the need to evaluate peer-led debriefing in nursing education.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare the effectiveness of instructor-led versus peer-led debriefing methods.
• To assess the impact on undergraduate nursing students' skills, knowledge, and self-confidence.
• To evaluate the quality of debriefing from the students' perspective.

Main Methods:

• A nonequivalent control group pretest-posttest design was employed with 57 third-year nursing students.
• Students were randomly assigned to either instructor-led or peer-led debriefing groups following a preoperative care simulation.
• Data were collected via questionnaires for knowledge and self-confidence, faculty evaluation of nursing skills, and student assessment of debriefing quality.

Main Results:

• Instructor-led debriefing resulted in statistically significant higher nursing skills and debriefing quality compared to peer-led debriefing.
• No significant differences were observed between the groups in terms of knowledge and self-confidence.
• Both groups demonstrated improvements in knowledge and self-confidence from pre-test to post-test.

Conclusions:

• Instructor-led debriefing appears superior for enhancing nursing skills and the overall quality of the debriefing process.
• Peer-led debriefing, even when facilitated by a non-trained peer, yielded positive outcomes, particularly for nursing students' self-confidence.
• Peer-led debriefing is a viable strategy to consider for augmenting nursing students' self-confidence in simulation-based education.