Introduction: Clinical competence is a pre-requisite for every student nurse to showcase their proficiency in providing quality nursing care. Effective clinical experience during the study period plays a pivotal role in developing clinical competence among nursing students. Hence, the purpose of the study was to find the effectiveness of high fidelity simulation (HFS) on clinical competence among nursing students.
Objectives: The objectives of the study were to determine the impact of HFS on level of clinical competence among nursing students, to find the association between selected demographic characteristics of nursing students with their level of clinical competence and also, to find the association between academic performances of nursing students with their level of competence.
Method: The current study employed a quasi-experimental study design. Sixty-five nursing students from second year Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) program were selected using consecutive sampling technique. The data was collected using demographic data form, objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) grade performa, and academic score sheet. SPSS version 24 was used to analyze data.
Results: The study revealed a significant impact of HFS on clinical competence of nursing students. Majority (52.3%) of the nursing students obtained high level clinical competence following the HFS. The findings showed a significant association between gender and medium of instruction with the level of clinical competence of nursing students. Further, there was a significant correlation between academic performance and level of clinical competence of the nursing students.
Conclusion: HFS served as a useful pedagogical approach in fulfilling the clinical learning outcomes. It further facilitated readiness of nursing students in second year BSN in terms of developing competence and confidence for clinical placement at the hospital for the third year of their study. However, further research is required to determine if HFS can be used in developing clinical reasoning skills in nursing students.
Keywords: academic performance; clinical competence; effectiveness; high fidelity simulation; nursing students; objective structured clinical examination.
© The Author(s) 2024.