The effect of high-fidelity patient simulation on the critical thinking and clinical decision-making skills of new graduate nurses

• Published in: The Journal of continuing education in nursing Vol. 43; no. 3; p. 125
• Main Authors: Maneval, Rhonda, Fowler, Kimberly A, Kays, John A, Boyd, Tiffany M, Shuey, Jennifer, Harne-Britner, Sarah, Mastrine, Cynthia
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 01-03-2012
• Subjects: Adult; Competency-Based Education - methods; Competency-Based Education - organization & administration; Education, Nursing, Continuing - methods; Education, Nursing, Continuing - organization & administration; Female; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Nursing Staff - education; Patient Simulation; Staff Development - methods; Staff Development - organization & administration; Thinking; Young Adult
• ISSN: 0022-0124
• DOI: 10.3928/00220124-20111101-02

This study was conducted to determine whether the addition of high-fidelity patient simulation to new nurse orientation enhanced critical thinking and clinical decision-making skills. A pretest-posttest design was used to assess critical thinking and clinical decision-making skills in two groups of graduate nurses. Compared with the control group, the high-fidelity patient simulation group did not show significant improvement in mean critical thinking or clinical decision-making scores. When mean scores were analyzed, both groups showed an increase in critical thinking scores from pretest to posttest, with the high-fidelity patient simulation group showing greater gains in overall scores. However, neither group showed a statistically significant increase in mean test scores. The effect of high-fidelity patient simulation on critical thinking and clinical decision-making skills remains unclear.