The Effect of Simulation on Skill Performance: A Need for Change in Pediatric Nursing Education

• Skill performance may be evaluated with an objective structured clinical exam.
• Prior to administering a med, 55.7% of students did not assess the patient's ID.
• 53.4% of the students did not follow the five rights of medication administration.
• A third of the students (75.3%) did not state the purpose of the medication.
• Post SBAR scores decreased for history and background but increased for assessment.

Background:This study sought to determine if student's performance of safety skills improved following a simulated educational experience.MethodsFurther analysis of data from a quasi-experimental design (n = 73) was examined to identify if student's skill performance improved following a simulated educational intervention.ResultsStudents did show an improvement in skill performance, but even after the intervention over half the students did not assess patient identification, over half did not administer medications safely, and students struggled with communicating nursing recommendations.ConclusionFurther research needs to focus on skill performance and assessing students' ability to provide safe nursing care.