High-Fidelity Simulation and Clinical Judgment of Nursing Students in a Maternal-Newborn Course

Area of Science:

• Nursing Education
• Healthcare Simulation
• Clinical Judgment Development

Background:

• Clinical judgment is crucial for safe nursing practice.
• Simulation is increasingly used in nursing education, but its impact on clinical judgment is under-researched.
• Evidence is needed to compare simulation with traditional clinical experiences.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare the clinical judgment of undergraduate nursing students trained through simulation versus hospital-based clinical experiences.
• To evaluate the effectiveness of simulation in developing clinical judgment in maternal-newborn nursing education.

Main Methods:

• Undergraduate nursing students were divided into two groups: simulation-exclusive and hospital-based clinical experience.
• Following rotations, all students underwent a high-fidelity maternal-newborn simulation.
• Clinical judgment was assessed using Lasater's Clinical Judgment Rubric and analyzed with an independent samples t-test.

Main Results:

• No statistically significant difference was found in clinical judgment scores between the simulation group and the hospital-based clinical experience group (t = -1.056, P = .295).
• The findings indicate comparable development of clinical judgment between the two educational approaches.

Conclusions:

• Simulation-based learning appears to be a viable and comparable alternative to traditional hospital-based clinical experiences for developing nursing students' clinical judgment.
• Further research can explore the long-term impact and specific benefits of simulation in nursing education.