Effectiveness of medical simulation among nursing students

Medical simulation is experiencing rapid growth in medical education, including nursing. Combining traditional teaching with medical simulation allows nursing students to develop both technical and non-technical skills in a controlled, safe environment. The aim of the study is to evaluate the effectiveness of nursing student education using medical simulation by assessing the simulation assumptions and student satisfaction and confidence in the learning process, along with an analysis of their predictors.

The study was conducted from October 2023 - May 2024, and involved 306 nursing students from the Zamojska Academy in Zamość and the WSEI Academy in Lublin, both in eastern Poland. The Simulation Design Scale (SDS) and Student Satisfaction And Self-Confidence In Learning (SSCL) tools were used in the study.

Nursing students experience confidence and satisfaction in the learning process, were significantly more pronounced among rural residents (p<0.05). Self-confidence and satisfaction in the learning process were negatively correlated with age (p<0.05), and are positively influenced by higher evaluation and importance of simulation objectives, and information and evaluation of problem solving, and negatively correlated by importance of problem solving (p<0.05).

The different elements of medical simulation teaching are highly valued by nursing students in the learning process. The evaluation of the assumptions of medical simulation and the importance of the role of prebriefing and debriefing as its most important elements, allow the prediction of the level of confidence and satisfaction of students, translating into the achievement of the assumed learning outcomes in terms of knowledge, skills and social competences.