The impact of simulation-based triage education on nursing students' self-reported clinical reasoning ability: A quasi-experimental study.

ABSTRACT

Few studies have comprehensively examined the effectiveness of simulation-based triage education on clinical reasoning of nursing students. This study evaluated the impact of a simulation-based triage exercise on nursing students' self-reported clinical reasoning ability. Three cohorts of third-year nursing students were divided into intervention group a (IG a, n = 62), intervention group b (IG b, n = 57), and a control group (CG, n = 53). Students in IG a and IG b participated in a simulation-based triage education consisting of 2 h of multiple patient triage simulations and an hour of structured debriefing. The CG participated in a traditional didactic triage course consisting of a 3-h lecture. Self-reported clinical reasoning ability in pre and post-triage education was measured by the Nurses Clinical Reasoning Scale. There was no significant difference in mean clinical reasoning ability scores between the three groups in pre-test (p > 0.05). Clinical reasoning ability scores in post-test among students in IG a and IG b were significantly higher than those in CG (p < 0.001). Nursing students exposed to a simulation-based triage education had more improvement in self-reported clinical reasoning ability as compared with students who participated in a lecture-based triage education program.