Rhonda Williams, DNP, RN, CNE, RN to BSN program coordinator and teaching professor in the School of Nursing; Donna Robinson, DNP, APRN, FNP-BC, associate teaching professor of nursing; and Mary Faragher, MSN, FNP, APRN-BC, retired associate educator of nursing — alongside other researchers — recently had their research published in Clinical Simulation in Nursing.
The article, “Navigating the Virtual Frontier: A Virtual Patient Simulation Pilot Study in Pre-licensure Baccalaureate Nursing Education,” was published in September.
Abstract:
“Background – Clinical reasoning and effective communication are foundational to patient outcomes and therefore key concepts in nursing education. There is a growing body of evidence to support virtual patient simulation in nursing and other health professions, but to date none that focuses specifically on whether virtual simulation impacts clinical reasoning in on-campus baccalaureate nursing health assessment courses.
Sample – First semester pre-licensure baccalaureate nursing students.
Methods – A quantitative, quasi-experimental design with a pretest–posttest methodology grounded in Experiential Learning Theory was used. The Student Performance Index score measured clinical reasoning and simulation software automatically calculated communication variables.
Results – In the sample of 19 students, a two-tailed paired samples t-test found statistically significant improved outcomes for most variables.
Conclusion – Virtual patient simulation positively impacts clinical reasoning and communication skills and is an appropriate pedagogical tool for nurse educators.”