Effectiveness of Simulation-Based Learning in Improving Clinical Competence and Practical Skills of Nursing Students

• S. Kanmani

  Author

• Dr.C. Geetha

  Author

Simulation-based learning (SBL) is beginning to transform nursing education as it provides a safe, controlled, and interactive space for students to practice essential clinical skills. Didactic educational experiences, as well as limited clinical experiences, restrict students' opportunities to develop complex cognitive processes, procedural skills and critical thinking in real-world clinical environments. A mixed-methods interdisciplinary investigation of SBL has been carried out to examine the effects of SBL on nursing students' clinical competence, practical skills and the connection between theory and practice at the bedside. A distinctively new Hybrid Immersive Simulation Model (HISM) was developed to include high-fidelity mannequins, simulated standardized patients, and scenario adaptations guided by the learner's interactions with the simulation. Unlike existing static simulations used in nursing education, a Hybrid Immersive Simulation Model allows the clinical case to be personalized in real-time based on the learner's actions and behaviours, thereby enabling the student to ultimately treat clinically dynamic patients, deal with litigation and complications, and reflect on patient outcomes. The model included structured pre-and post-intervention assessments, including OSCEs (Objective Structured Clinical Examinations) and self-efficacy scales, which revealed clinically significant changes in nursing students' clinical judgment, communication, and technical skill acquisition. The findings of the overall study suggest that SBL increases experiential learning and reduces the schism between academic preparation and professional nursing practice. The findings illustrate that nursing curricula can better prepare future novice professionals to meet the demands of high-stakes clinical environments by embedding high-fidelity hybrid simulation frameworks within curricula.

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