Professional Documents
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ISSN 2454-5872
Abstract
Recently high fidelity simulation practice became an important aspect in nursing education for
enhancing nursing students clinical skill confidence and satisfaction. Because providing the
community with highly skilled nurses is our objective in nursing education, the objectives of the
current study were to assess nursing student satisfaction and self-confidence with High Fidelity
Simulation at Arab American University of Jenin (AAUJ). The research design was a
quantitative, cross sectional descriptive study, with a total of 440 nursing students in the second,
third and fourth year of their BSc program at the Arab American University of Jenin, the first
university to introduce HFS among Palestinian Universities. Data was collected using: (a)
demographic survey, (b) Student Satisfaction and Self-Confidence in learning Questionnaire,
developed by NLN which consists of 13 items with a five-point Likert scale. The majority of the
participants were female (53.6%), ages 21-22(58.6%). Most (50.5%) of the participants were in
the second year of study, 48.9% of the total participants were engaged in the adult health
nursing specialty course and the majority (58.0) had GPAs between 1.75-2.75. The main results
of this study revealed that the majority of nursing students were satisfied (80.7%) and self-
confident (75.4%) with the simulation based learning in nursing education. Moreover, no
statistically significant differences were identified between age, gender, and the total means
score from the questionnaire. However, specialty course and year level, showed significant
difference between groups (P<0.000).The findings of the study indicated that high fidelity
simulation enhances nursing students self-confidence and satisfaction. With the shortage of
clinical settings, simulation can be an effective teaching tool and an innovative pedagogical
strategy in Palestine. In the future, it would be interesting to study maternity nursing students
perceptions and experiences regarding high fidelity simulation due to the restrictions applied for
male students to practice skills in the maternity course.
Keywords
Satisfaction, self-confidence, HFS, Palestine
1. Introduction
Recently, simulation practice has become an essential pedagogical strategy in nursing
education due to challenges in healthcare related to increased patient acuity, patient safety and
clinical sites shortage (Kim et. al., 2015). Through simulation, learners have the opportunity to
synthesize cognitive, affective and psychomotor skills using a number of different clinical
scenarios in a safe and supportive environment (Fong, 2013; Agha, Alhamrani, & Khan, 2015).
High fidelity simulation also provides students the opportunity to apply theoretical knowledge
gained from lectures, to learn from errors without endangering patients, to learn from peers, and
to bridge the gaps between knowledge and practice (Lewis, 2012; Onello & Regan, 2013;
Abelsson, & Bisholt,2017).). Furthermore, HFS enhances the acquisition of advanced skills
which can be enhanced and synthesized using interactive repeated scenarios (Decker et al, 2008).
High-fidelity simulation attempts to create convincing real environment using a
sophisticated mannequin, software, and actual medical equipment and personnel which resemble
real life and mimics clinical settings (Tuoriniemi & Schott-Baed, 2008). High-fidelity manikins
can be programmed to produce a variety of critical case scenarios that require the student to
respond competently while assessing the bodys vital functions such as respiratory rate, cardiac
rate and rhythm, lung sounds, oxygen saturation, blood pressure, and body temperature. This
pedagogical gold standard allows students to obtain high level clinical skills in virtual reality
prior to applying them in a real setting (Bremner et al 2006; Leigh & Hurst, 2008; Seropian,
2003; Shrestha, S. 2016).
Omer (2016) surveyed 117 nursing students enrolled in the nursing program that
included 30% clinical simulation and found that simulation enhanced nursing students
satisfaction and their level of self- confidence in their clinical practices (Omer ,2016 ).
Kim and others (2015) examined the effects of five maternity simulation scenarios on
self-directed learning and problem solving skills among 90 experimental and control group
participants. The outcomes showed that the level of problem solving ability of experimental
group average score was significantly higher than that of the control group. The study results
revealed that maternity simulation practice was an effective strategy in improving problem
solving ability and but was not effective in improving self-directed learning ability. Another
study conducted by Gudayu et al.,2015 on 141 midwifery students that examined self-efficacy,
satisfaction, and related factors of simulation based education experiences found that 54.2% of
the respondents were confident and 50.7% were satisfied in the current simulation learning.
Hurst (2015) studied nursing students perceptions of selected aspects of HFS on
students satisfaction and self-confidence in simulation based learning. The most significant
relationship identified was students academic year (sophomore and senior students). Students
perceived HFS as an effective teaching strategy and were satisfied and self-confident in learning.
Hall (2014) examined maternity students clinical judgment/critical thinking skills
through a combination of simulated and hospital-based instruction. The researcher used maternal
newborn content mastery exams with particular focus on clinical reasoning critical thinking
skills. The exam scores on the critical thinking skills for senior nursing students who received
instructional methods via simulated scenarios along with hospital-based clinical instruction, were
significantly higher than the scores of students participating in hospital-based clinical instruction
alone. Hall (2014).
The outcomes of the published literature and the results of practical experiences provided
by various institutions are appealing, pushing towards adopting HFS as an accepted educational
modality in nursing education. The present study focuses on an undergraduate nursing program
in Palestine which strives to improve the clinical experiences of nursing students and the quality
of care by incorporating HFS in the curriculum. Moreover, preparation of high caliber skilled
nurses enhances the quality of patient care and improves the patient outcomes. It is worthwhile
mentioning that AAUJ is the only Palestinian university that uses HFS labs in their curriculum
with 10% of specialty course assessment occurring through simulated experiences. Therefore,
the purpose of this study was to assess nursing student satisfaction and self- confidence with high
fidelity simulation at AAUJ. Also, the study aimed to assess the effect of on nursing students
satisfaction and self-confidence related to factors including age, gender, academic level, GPA,
specialized course.
3. Results
The results of the questionnaire were tabulated and statistical analyses were carried out.
Table 1 summarizes the demographic data which includes: age, gender, year of study, specialty
course and GPA. The majority of the participants (53.6%) were female, and 58.6% of the
participants were between 21-22 years of age. Most (50.5%) of the participants were in the
second year of their study, 48.9% of the total participants were engaged in the adult health
nursing specialty course and the majority (58.0) had a GPA between 1.75- 2.75.
Variables F p-value
T:1.276
Gender/total mean 0.203
Age/total mean 0.93 0.385
Year Level/total mean 16.2 <0.000
Specialty course/total mean 10.3 <0.000
.62 0.61
GPA/total mean
(*) Statistically significant at p<0.05
4. Discussion
The results of this study demonstrated that HFS enhanced undergraduate nursing
students satisfaction and self-confidence with current learning. The result of this study are more
significant than the study conducted by Gudayu et al. (2015), where the average score for
satisfaction and self-confidence in learning was 54.2% ,50.7%respectively. Possibly the reason
that students were more satisfied than confident was because simulation was newly introduced in
our curriculum and our students had no previous experience with highly sophisticated
equipment, which is supported by Gudayu et al.
The study also demonstrated that out of the 13 questions in the survey the average
percent agreement was 77.5%, which indicates that these participants had a high level of self-
confidence and satisfaction with the integration of HFS into the nursing curriculum. These
results are consistent with several previous studies which indicated that HFS enhance students
level of satisfaction and self-confidence in learning (Agha, Alhamrani, & Khan, 2015; Omar
,2015 & Kim 2016). Moreover, the highest response (83.4%) in the questions that measures the
satisfaction was to this item I enjoyed how my instructor taught the simulation, and the highest
response (83.0%) in the questions that measures that self-confident was to this item My
instructors used helpful resources to teach the simulation. This indicates that nursing students
were more satisfied and confident in the way that simulation was conducted by their instructors
than themselves. Moreover, no statistical significant differences were identified between
demographic factors such as age, gender, student GPA and the total means score which measures
both students satisfaction and self-confidence in learning. However, type of specialty courses
and year in program showed a significant difference between groups (P<0.000). The result of
this study are similar to a recent study done by Omar (2016), who found a significant correlation
between demographic characteristics (age, stream, courses) and satisfaction with simulation but
not self-confidence.
5. Conclusion
With the shortage of clinical settings, simulation can be an effective teaching tool and an
innovative pedagogical strategy in Palestine. Furthermore, simulation scenarios provide an
effective strategy for improving nursing students competencies in specialized settings such as
womens and pediatric health, critical care, and emergency care. Moreover, when nursing
students perceive themselves satisfied with the simulation experience this will help them in
improving their self-confidence which will enhance the actual delivery of patient care. We
recommend increasing the percentage of simulation used in place of traditional clinical practice.
5.1 Scope of future research
Future research is needed to study maternity nursing students experiences regarding high
fidelity simulation due to the restrictions on male students to practicing skills in the maternity
course and even in observing the birth process.
5.2. Study Limitations
The fact that this study was conducted in only one Palestinian university represents a
limit to define the type of impact on students in using simulation lab in Palestine. Other factors
that were not taken into consideration in this study such as students learning needs in each
specialty course correlated with students competencies in each level, can be used in future
needed studies on the same topic to deepen the understanding and definition of the impact of
simulation labs on students learning and skills acquisitions.
5.3. Acknowledgment
I would like to present a great appreciation for Dr. Linda Eddy for her invaluable input,
comments and continuous support to make possible this paper in favor of scientific community.
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