Objective: To compare the effectiveness of co-debriefing with debriefing with a facilitator in the development of clinical competences in nursing students in the simulated care of cardiac arrest.
Method: Randomized pilot study, carried out at a university in Minas Gerais, Brazil, in August 2021, with 17 students, to compare debriefing with a facilitator (control n=8) with co-debriefing (intervention n=9). Pre- and post-test, Objective Structured Clinical Examination and scales were used to assess behavioral skills. Wilcoxon and Mann-Whitney nonparametric comparison tests were used for analysis.
Results: The intervention group performed better than the control for knowledge about basic life support (control=17.00±2.39 and intervention=19.22 ± 0.66, p=0.021) and psychomotor skills (control=8.12±0.13 and intervention=8.50 ± 0.001, p<0.001). There were no significant differences for behavioral skills.
Conclusion: Co-debriefing appears to be more effective than debriefing with a facilitator to develop clinical skills in basic life support in nursing.