History and Development of the Simulation Effectiveness Tool (SET)

BackgroundThere has been a lack of reliable and valid instruments measuring human patient simulation effectiveness reported in the literature. Two related studies addressing this concern are described.MethodsA multi-phased pilot investigation at a single nursing program (N=161) and a follow-up multi-site national study (N=645) evaluated the reliability of the Simulation Effectiveness Tool (SET) as a measure of the effectiveness of a simulated clinical experience (SCE).ResultsFindings from the pilot study resulted in a revision of the original 20-item evaluation tool to a 13-item 3-point ordinal scale instrument. Two subscales, “confidence” and “learning” were noted with Chronbach's alpha of .88 (confidence) and .87 (learning).ConclusionsThe calculated Chronbach's alpha (.93) from the multi-site investigation indicated that the 13-item SET is a reliable instrument and shows promise for measuring simulation effectiveness.