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. 2021 Nov;8(6):3045-3054.
doi: 10.1002/nop2.1017. Epub 2021 Jul 31.

Evaluation of students' perceived clinical competence and learning needs following an online virtual simulation education programme with debriefing during the COVID-19 pandemic

John Tai Chun Fung  1 , Wen Zhang  1 , Man Nga Yeung  1 , Michelle Tsz Ha Pang  1 , Veronica Suk Fun Lam  1 , Bobo Kai Yin Chan  1 , Janet Yuen-Ha Wong  1
Affiliations

Evaluation of students' perceived clinical competence and learning needs following an online virtual simulation education programme with debriefing during the COVID-19 pandemic

John Tai Chun Fung et al. Nurs Open. 2021 Nov.

Abstract

Aims and objectives: This study aimed to evaluate the effect of a virtual simulation education programme with debriefing in undergraduate nursing students. Perceived clinical competence and learning needs of students in a simulation environment were also measured.

Background: Evidence showed virtual simulation education programmes provided better knowledge acquisition. However, these studies to date did not incorporate virtual simulation in the combination of a debriefing model in nursing students.

Design: A one-group pre-test and post-test design.

Methods: 188 final year undergraduate nursing students participated in the study. Linear mixed model analysis was conducted to evaluate the effect of the programme.

Results: Students have perceived a significant improvement in clinical competence and nursing process. Self-efficacy has also boosted. Communication and critical thinking were applied better in the traditional clinical environment.

Conclusion: Perceived clinical competence of Chinese nursing students has significant improvements by using virtual simulation combining a debriefing model during the COVID-19 period. Virtual simulation met students' learning needs. Future studies should include a control group for comparison and long-term measurement.

Relevance to clinical practice: The study provided an innovative clinical learning pedagogy to serve as a potential alternative with traditional clinical practicum during the COVID-19 period as this is substantially limited.

Keywords: clinical competence; clinical decision-making; facilitated debriefing; nursing education; virtual simulation.

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Conflict of interest statement

None.

References

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