Creativity in high-fidelity simulation-based nursing education: associations with learning outcomes and stress

Area of Science:

• Nursing Education
• Medical Simulation
• Cognitive Psychology

Background:

• Nursing education increasingly uses evidence-informed strategies for better learning outcomes and student well-being.
• High-fidelity simulation (HFS) is a key educational method, but the impact of learner characteristics like creativity is understudied.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the relationship between cognitive and characterological creativity and nursing students' satisfaction, self-confidence, perceived learning, and stress in HFS.
• To analyze how individual creativity influences the effectiveness of HFS in nursing education.

Main Methods:

• A cross-sectional study involving 286 undergraduate nursing students using questionnaires to assess creativity, satisfaction, self-confidence, and perceived learning.
• Statistical analyses included Spearman's rank correlation and Mann-Whitney U test (p < 0.05).

Main Results:

• Higher cognitive and characterological creativity correlated positively with student satisfaction, self-confidence, and perceived learning outcomes.
• Creativity was associated with lower stress during simulation tasks, including patient communication and procedural execution.
• Characterological creativity particularly enhanced perceived knowledge, practical skills, and social competencies.

Conclusions:

• Creativity is a significant learner characteristic positively influencing educational experiences in HFS for nursing students.
• Fostering creativity in nursing students can lead to greater satisfaction, confidence, and reduced stress during simulation-based learning.
• Integrating creativity-supportive strategies into nursing simulation curricula is recommended to optimize educational outcomes.