In the present age, technology is transforming every sector, and contributing to advancement in the field of science. Nursing is an example of a field that is seeing numerous developments that necessitate technological advancements. The field of nursing is an integrated discipline that values knowledge sharing and skills. Therefore, updating the education system in nursing is critical to ensure its continuity as a profession. The role of a nurse is to care for patients and meet the population's health needs. Therefore, meeting the global standards in nursing education is a necessity.
In most cases in the nursing field, nursing education takes a traditional approach of knowledge transfer from the instructor to the students. The problem with such an educational approach is that it is not student-centered. Therefore, it churns out nurses who are passive in the field of nursing. The consequences are inadequate innovation and creativity that chock nursing as a profession. The need to change the nursing curricular to involve interactive approaches to teaching students in the field of nursing is huge. For instance, the nursing field demands that the nursing education system provide the students with an active role before they take the steering wheel in the nursing field. The application of an innovative approach to nursing education system, such as introducing simulation as part of nursing education can solve the problem.
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The Research question and its context in Nursing
The purpose of this research is to determine whether simulation can be as effective as actual teaching in nursing education. The research question is, among students training to be nurses, how does simulation learning compares to actual teaching concerning effectiveness during their training period? According to Kim, Park&Shin (2016), simulation is a technique, not a technology, to replace real experiences, often immersive, that replicate substantial aspects of the real world in a fully interactive fashion. From Gharaibeh, Hweidi & Al-Smadi (2017) perspective, simulation in nursing are activities that reflect reality in a clinical setting. Such activities depict or demonstrate a good away of organizing students in a manner that reflects actual decision making and critical thinking. The activities involve the application of different techniques such as role-playing through the use of devices such as low, moderate, or high fidelity mannequins.
A typical example of a scenario involving the application of simulation in nursing is a video game that aims to analyze the ability of a nurse to make a decision faster and effective to solve a healthcare issue in the society. Such games, for instance, depict a real-life scenario in nursing and sets a situation where the students must make clinical-based decisions to help reduce either the spread of a disease or a disease inversion in a particular area. Most of these games or simulations take place in simulation laboratories. In most cases, they demand that the student nurses play an active role in different characteristics in the simulation scenario and apply for their roles in a real-like environment. Some of such simulations also involve situations where the students must form teams or work in groups to solve a problem. Notably, the nursing profession emphasizes the use of evidence-based practices for quality care. Furthermore, nursing also demands that there is consultation between different nurses and other disciplines in the hospital. Therefore, simulations, where students work in groups, prepare them for a role they will take in a multidisciplinary environment such as a hospital.
Search Strategy
The effectiveness of simulation as a teaching approach in nursing is a topic that is common in the field of nursing literature. In this sense, researching the topic is not difficult since numerous documents discuss the topic in multiple versions. For this research, some keywords and phrases were important for searching different articles as evidence for supporting the topic. The keywords were “simulation,” “simulation education,” and “simulation in nursing.”
Furthermore, different credible websites or search engines were important for this research since they were the source of most of the articles that were supporting the topic. The research study relied on the following search engines to provide different articles to support the topic; openThesis, Google Scholar, ScienceDirect, and ProQuest. The search engines were providing multiple documents on the topic using the keywords, some of which were irrelevant. In this sense, there was a need to narrow down the search to get some of the most current and reputable sources to act as evidence to support the topic. As a result, the publication year for each article became a factor of considerations. Only articles whose publication years were from 2016 to 2020 were within the qualification threshold for the research. A total of eight reputable research articles were, therefore, the best for this research.
The Description of the Quality of the ‘Best Evidence’
In this research study, the focus was on credible articles that had a relevant discussion on the topic. The basis of the credibility of the research study was the study design. Therefore, the CASP checklist was critical in determining the quality of different pieces of evidence for this research study. The CASP checklist lists various types of research study designs based on their strength of evidence. Such designs include meta-analysis study, systematic review, randomized control trials, cohort study, case study, case series and case report studies, and animal studies. In this study, therefore, the search for credibility and the strength in evidence was based on the nature of a research study the authors presented in the article.
For instance, the article by Gharaibeh, Hweidi & Al-Smadi (2017) was credible, and its quality was good for this research study. In this article, the authors present a descriptive correlational design that ranks among the study designs under the CASP checklist. Furthermore, an article by Kim, Park &Shin (2016) was also effective concerning the quality because the authors presented a qualitative based literature review research from reputable sources. However, there was a concern with this article because the nature of the study design the authors presented ranks low in the CASP checklist. However, its findings were relevant to many other findings in the literature despite the low ranking. Therefore, its quality was exceptional and was in line with the topic under discussion. The pieces of evidence from the article by MacLean, Kelly, Geddes &Della (2017) were also of quality because of the authors' focus on integrated reviews method or design. In the CASP checklist, a descriptive review design ranks high and is one of the best ways authors can prove that a conclusion at the end of the research is reliable and credible. Therefore, an article by MacLean, Kelly, Geddes &Della (2017) had a quality to warrant a focus for this study.
The pieces of evidence from a research study by Qi (2019) were also relevant and had appreciable qualities because it was laboratory research based on simulation. Although laboratory research ranks low in the CASP checklist, CASP list it as one of the best ways to determine the quality of a research article. A research article by Jang, Yoo & Roh (2019) also had an exceptional quality because of the randomized control trial that was the center of its study. In the article by Jawabreh, Ayed & Batran (2019) also focuses on the experimental and cross-sectional study, all of which ranks in a good position with regards to the CASP checklist. The pieces of evidence that Demiray& Ilaslan (2019) present concerning this discussion seems the best because the design they use is a systematic review, which ranks first in the CASP checklist. Finally, Roh, Kim & Issenberg (2019) present a cross-sectional descriptive survey design, which also proves the quality of evidence in the article.
Literature Review on the Topic
Most of the literature research studies on this topic reveal that simulation is critical in nursing and can be a good away of teaching nursing in the same manner as actual teaching. For instance, a study by Roh, Kim & Issenberg (2019) reveals that structured simulation is critical in nursing education, and this should be part of nursing training as it enhances their analysis skills and advance their teamwork knowledge just like the actual training. In their research study, Kim, Park&Shin (2016) make a bold statement by claiming that the effectiveness of structured simulation for nursing training is stronger and encourages this approach of training mostly for nursing in the psychomotor domain. However, the researchers reveal that the nurse curriculum should test a variety of such methods since the effect on the education outcome varies depending on the type of simulation used by a teacher.
The effectiveness of the simulation in nursing education and training is also evident by results that Jang, Yoo & Roh (2019) present from their study. From the authors’ point of view, simulation is significantly effective in helping to improve nursing students’ knowledge. Furthermore, Qi (2019) also reveals that through the simulation studies, nursing students become creative and problem solvers. They develop the ability to find options for solving problems in nursing, and this help in developing innovative and creative team in the nursing profession. MacLean, Kelly, Geddes & Della (2017) support the findings that engaging students in a simulative study make them creative. In the findings by Gharaibeh, Hweidi & Al-Smadi (2017), the authors reveal that through the use of simulative studies, the students understand their role in nursing.
However, Demiray & Ilaslan (2019) differ with other researchers on this topic because the researchers find an insignificant effect of simulation on nursing training. Therefore, they suggest that teachers need to use a variety of such simulations in combination with actual teaching for effectiveness. Despite such differences in views, it is evident from the pieces of literature in this article that simulation studies can benefit nursing students and, therefore, can have equal effectiveness as real or actual teaching. From the pieces of literature, the authors claim that simulation training brings creativity and innovation to nursing students. It engages them in different nursing roles in healthcare, and therefore allows them the chance to interact with real-world situations. As a result, it enhances their decision-making abilities and problem-solving skills.
Mobilization of the Evidence into Practice
Overall, I would mobilize the evidence from this literature into nursing practice because from the findings, the effectiveness of simulation studies in enhancing nursing education is overwhelming. According to Kim, Park & Shin (2016), simulation injects the sense of creativity, engagement, and student-centeredness. All these domains are minimally present in the actual teaching, which is instructor oriented. Furthermore, this is the best approach to enhance interdisciplinary consultation and ensure that aspiring nurses develop an evidence-based practice mindset before they get a chance to take their role in the real nursing field. The evidence from research by Jang, Yoo & Roh (2019) reveals that simulation encourages interaction between students and their teachers. Through such interactions, students understand the need to rely on each other while discharging their duties as nurses in the hospital. Therefore, I would mobilize these pieces of evidence in practice because they are credible, and they pinpoint the need to have different approaches to nursing education to increase the quality of nursing practices.
From the pieces of literature, it is evident that simulation in nursing practice is as effective in nursing training as actual teaching. From the literature review, the research results reveal that simulation adds to the existing knowledge the nurses have and also increases their interaction rate with the nursing environment, thereby developing their creativity and decision-making skills.
References
Demiray, A., & Ilaslan, N. (2019). Standardized Patient Simulation Usage in Nursing Education and Evaluation of Outcomes by Kirkpatric Model. Sch J ApplSci Res , 2 , 10-18. http://innovationinfo.org/articles/SJASR/SJASR-1-246.pdf
Gharaibeh, B., Hweidi, I., & Al-Smadi, A. (2017). Attitudes and perception of baccalaureate nursing students toward educational simulation. Cogent Education , 4 (1), 1360063. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/2331186X.2017.1360063
Jang, K. I., Yoo, Y. S., & Roh, Y. S. (2019). Development and Effectiveness of an Oncology Nursing Standardized Patient Simulation Program for Nursing Students. Korean Journal of Adult Nursing , 31 (6), 595-604. https://doi.org/10.7475/kjan.2019.31.6.595
Jawabreh, N., Ayed, A., & Batran, A. (2019). Effect of High Fidelity Simulation on Nursing Students’ Knowledge in Palestine. Open Journal of Nursing , 9 (04), 364. https://www.scirp.org/html/2-1441143_91750.htm
Kim, J., Park, J. H., & Shin, S. (2016). Effectiveness of simulation-based nursing education depending on fidelity: a meta-analysis. BMC medical education , 16 (1), 152. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12909-016-0672-7
MacLean, S., Kelly, M., Geddes, F., & Della, P. (2017). Use of simulated patients to develop communication skills in nursing education: An integrative review. Nurse education today , 48 , 90-98. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nedt.2016.09.018
Qi, J. (2019, March). Application Research of Medical Simulation Teaching in Nursing Education. In 2018 8th International Conference on Education and Management (ICEM 2018) . Atlantis Press. https://doi.org/10.2991/icem-18.2019.55
Roh, Y. S., Kim, M., & Issenberg, S. B. (2019). Perceived Competence and Training Priorities of Korean Nursing Simulation Instructors. Clinical Simulation in Nursing , 26 , 54-63. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecns.2018.08.001
