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

Clinical judgment, one's ability to think like a nurse, is an essential skill for safe nursing practice. With the rise of simulation to replace clinical experiences, there is limited evidence regarding the effectiveness of simulation on the development of clinical judgment. This study explored differences in clinical judgment in maternal-newborn courses between undergraduate nursing students participating exclusively in simulation and those participating in hospital-based clinical experiences. Following completion of the clinical rotation, students participated in an evaluative maternal-newborn high-fidelity simulation experience that was recorded and evaluated using the Lasater's Clinical Judgment Rubric (2007). Lasater's Clinical Judgment Rubric scores between the simulation and clinical practice groups were compared using an independent sample t-test. There was no statistical difference in clinical judgment scores between the simulation and hospital-based clinical groups (t = -1.056, P = .295). Our findings suggest that simulation may be a comparable alternative to clinical experience in nursing education.