Effects of Simulation-Based integrated education on academic self-efficacy and clinical judgment for senior nursing students in the Republic of Korea

This study was performed to examine the effectiveness of simulation-based integrated education on academic self-efficacy and clinical judgment for nursing students who were in their senior year in the university. One-group pre-and post-test quasi-experimental design was used. Eighty-five senior nursing students participated in this study. The educational program consisted of 12 sessions over an 8-week period from October to December in 2015. The participants completed self-reported questionnaires which included academic selfefficacy and clinical judgment rubric prior to and after undertaking the education. Data were analyzed using t-tests, one-way ANOVA, paired t-tests, ANCOVA, and Pearson’s coefficients with the SPSS 23.0 program. The participants’ overall scores in the academic self-efficacy (t=3.28, p=.002) and that of clinical judgment (t=2.09, p=.040) had significantly improved in the post-tests than in the pretests. The academic self-efficacy score in the post-test was higher for those who were having good interpersonal relationships than those who were not, after controlling pretest scores as covariates (F=4.50, p=.037). But other demographic or academic factors were not found as significant related factors for improvement in academic self-efficacy and clinical judgment when controlled pretest scores as covariates. Higher academic self-efficacy scores were significantly related to higher clinical judgment scores in the post-tests (r=.557, p<.001). The simulationbased integrated education can be effective learning strategy to incorporate the clinical experiences during clinical practicum and to facilitate the transition into performing in the real patient setting.