Abstract

Nursing education is the process whereby students are guided, assisted and provided with means which enable them to learn the professional knowledge so that they can apply it to nursing care of people. Simulation is a learning method to replace or amplify real experiences with guided experiences that evoke or replicate substantial aspects of the real world in a fully interactive manner. The use of simulation as an educational tool is becoming increasingly prevalent in nursing education. Objective: The objective of systematic review was to provide available evidence on the effect of high-fidelity simulation on knowledge acquisition. Method: The computerized searches from 2000-2010 in CINAHL, Medline, Chinese Academic Journal (CAJ) etc were performed. Primary empirical studies determining the effect of high-fidelity simulation on knowledge acquisition in nursing education were considered. Two independent reviewers assessed the eligibility of each study, its level of evidence and the methodological quality. Results: Only eleven studies were retrieved. They included three randomized controlled trials (RCTs) with a Jadad quality score of 3, five RCTS with a Jadad quality score of 2, one nonrandomized controlled trial with a convenience sample, and a quasi-experimental study with one group pretest-posttest design. The result of meta-analysis indicated that high-fidelity simulation increased the standardized mean score of knowledge exams by 0.69 point (95% CI for Standardized Mean Difference with random effect model 0.29 ~ 1.09, P=0.0007). Conclusion: The high-fidelity simulation did enhance the scores on knowledge exams, but the majority of reviewed RCTs were of low methodological quality. There was lack of formal measurement tools available to evaluate simulations. Clearly, it is necessary to develop measurement tools particularly for high-fidelity simulation, and conduct additional high quality RCTs with larger sample sizes to determine the effect of high-fidelity simulation on knowledge acquisition among different student groups.

Author Details

Yuan, Hao Bin, PhD, RN; Fang, Jin Bo, PhD, RN; Williams, Beverly A., PhD, RN

Sigma Membership

Unknown

Type

Presentation

Format Type

Text-based Document

Study Design/Type

N/A

Research Approach

N/A

Keywords:

Nursing Education, Meta-Analysis, Simulation

Conference Name

23rd International Nursing Research Congress

Conference Host

Sigma Theta Tau International

Conference Location

Brisbane, Australia

Conference Year

2012

Rights Holder

All rights reserved by the author(s) and/or publisher(s) listed in this item record unless relinquished in whole or part by a rights notation or a Creative Commons License present in this item record.

All permission requests should be directed accordingly and not to the Sigma Repository.

All submitting authors or publishers have affirmed that when using material in their work where they do not own copyright, they have obtained permission of the copyright holder prior to submission and the rights holder has been acknowledged as necessary.

Acquisition

Proxy-submission

Share

COinS
 

Knowledge acquisition through simulation in nursing education: A meta-analysis

Brisbane, Australia

Nursing education is the process whereby students are guided, assisted and provided with means which enable them to learn the professional knowledge so that they can apply it to nursing care of people. Simulation is a learning method to replace or amplify real experiences with guided experiences that evoke or replicate substantial aspects of the real world in a fully interactive manner. The use of simulation as an educational tool is becoming increasingly prevalent in nursing education. Objective: The objective of systematic review was to provide available evidence on the effect of high-fidelity simulation on knowledge acquisition. Method: The computerized searches from 2000-2010 in CINAHL, Medline, Chinese Academic Journal (CAJ) etc were performed. Primary empirical studies determining the effect of high-fidelity simulation on knowledge acquisition in nursing education were considered. Two independent reviewers assessed the eligibility of each study, its level of evidence and the methodological quality. Results: Only eleven studies were retrieved. They included three randomized controlled trials (RCTs) with a Jadad quality score of 3, five RCTS with a Jadad quality score of 2, one nonrandomized controlled trial with a convenience sample, and a quasi-experimental study with one group pretest-posttest design. The result of meta-analysis indicated that high-fidelity simulation increased the standardized mean score of knowledge exams by 0.69 point (95% CI for Standardized Mean Difference with random effect model 0.29 ~ 1.09, P=0.0007). Conclusion: The high-fidelity simulation did enhance the scores on knowledge exams, but the majority of reviewed RCTs were of low methodological quality. There was lack of formal measurement tools available to evaluate simulations. Clearly, it is necessary to develop measurement tools particularly for high-fidelity simulation, and conduct additional high quality RCTs with larger sample sizes to determine the effect of high-fidelity simulation on knowledge acquisition among different student groups.