Nursing handover facilitates the continuity of nursing and ensures patient safety and quality of care. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of a handover education program by assessing handover knowledge, self-efficacy, and handover performance competency. A group pretest-post-test quasi-experimental design was used. Thirty 4th-year Korean nursing students participated in a handover education program comprising a lecture and simulation training using a high-fidelity simulator. The average level of handover knowledge was 4.63 ± 1.61 before the program and 5.83 ± 0.95 after (t = -3.71, p = 0.001). Meanwhile, the average self-efficacy score was 3.35 ± 0.57 before the program and 3.90 ± 0.60 after (t = -5.65, p < 0.001). Further, the average handover performance competency was 1.75 ± 0.25 before the program and 2.37 ± 0.21 after (t = -12.08, p < 0.001). The simulation-based handover education intervention was effective in improving knowledge, self-efficacy, and performance competency of nursing students. This intervention can provide an effective method of improving nursing students' handover skills prior to entering clinical practice.
Keywords: clinical competence; handover knowledge; nursing education; nursing student; patient handover; patient simulation; self-efficacy.