Using high-fidelity simulation to bridge clinical and classroom learning in undergraduate pediatric nursing

SummaryIn Patricia Benner's book, Educating Nurses: A Call for Radical Transformation, she recommends essential changes in policy, curriculum, and in the way nursing programs approach student learning. This study explored how two of Benner's key recommendations, (1) integrating the theoretical component and the clinical component and (2) moving education from an emphasis on critical thinking to an emphasis on clinical reasoning, could be achieved by integrating the use of high-fidelity patient simulation in a pediatric curriculum. Qualitative and quantitative data were collected from the group of traditional and nontraditional baccalaureate students (n = 131). The quantitative data revealed learning objectives were met over 80% of the time in simulation exercises and the qualitative themes revealed a positive experience with the simulation exercises with a large proportion of students offering the sentiments that these scenarios become requirement prior to the start of clinical rotations.