Understanding the student's experience of community health nursing simulations.

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to explore nursing students' experiences after completing community health nursing simulation encounters. METHODS: The study used a descriptive qualitative design. Through conventional content analysis, the research team analyzed the experiences of 73 nursing students after participating in community health nursing simulation encounters. The data come from nursing students' responses to three post-simulation qualitative questions. RESULTS: Nursing students identified both positive aspects (simulation as a great learning method, useful in understanding community health nurses' roles, faculty's role in facilitating an effective learning environment) and opportunities for improvement (needing for clear objectives, expectations, and roles). CONCLUSIONS: Community health nursing simulation encounters can be a powerful educational method to help students experience and understand the roles of community health nurses. IMPLICATIONS FOR INTERNATIONAL AUDIENCE: Augmentation of the pre-brief component will further improve students' simulation experiences.

Using simulation to evaluate exam scores in a public health nursing course.

OBJECTIVE: Public health nursing courses typically incorporate clinical components but rarely offer simulation education as part of clinical practice. There is limited research examining the impact of simulation for public health nursing courses on final exam scores. The objective of this study was to determine the impact of simulation training on final exam scores in a public health nursing course. DESIGN: Public health scenarios were created to provide hands-on experience in two settings. Home and school environments were used with discussion of students' performance during debriefing. SAMPLE: Using a convenience sample, final exam scores were compared between nursing students (n = 79) who participated in a public health nursing simulation and two similar student groups (n = 97) that did not participate in simulation. RESULTS: Students with simulation training scored higher in both public health domains (Community Health; Clinical Prevention and Population Health). A significant difference in total mean final scores (p = .04; p = .02) was noted between groups of students with simulation training and those without. CONCLUSION: The difference in mean final scores suggests that simulation may be an effective educational modality in preparing students toward their state board or end of semester exams.