Public Health Simulation-Infused Program (PHSIP) for Nursing Education

Recent health crises, like COVID-19, have increased the need for nurses with public health competencies, but students lack knowledge and are unconvinced of the importance of the field.

Pre-licensure nursing students (n = 341) engaged with a public health simulation-infused program (PHSIP) that scaffolded throughout the curriculum. Public health knowledge was tested pre- and post-simulation-based education (SBE), and the simulation effectiveness tool-modified (SET-M) was used to evaluate Learners' perception of the SBE experience.

Learners' overall mean SET-M scores were 47.1/57 (83%), ranging from 49.5 to 54 out of 57. Post-test knowledge scores were found to be significantly higher than pre-test (p < 0.001), with an average overall mean knowledge score of 70% (±0.25) and an effect size of 0.82.

Scaffolding public health SBEs across the curriculum allowed continuous exposure to public health content. Lessons learned include the need to chunk pre-SBE training to prevent cognitive overload, and the time and resources needed to create a PHSIP.

Nursing educators should embrace the PHSIP curriculum to provide an opportunity for students to gain an appreciation for the field and gain the knowledge, skills, and resources needed to care for the public's health.