Student Nurse Perceptions Regarding Learning Transfer Following High-Fidelity Simulation

•Little research has focussed on students' transfer of learning following simulation.•Semistructured focus group discussions were used to explore students' perceptions regarding simulation learning they had transferred to clinical practice.•Three themes emerged from the data analysis: But it's not the same, Having opportunities to apply what we've learned, and Making better connections.•A variety of factors influence students' transfer of simulation learning.

BackgroundLittle is known about the effectiveness of students' transfer of simulation learning to “real-world” contexts. This study was an initial exploration of third-year nursing students' perceptions regarding the transfer of high-fidelity simulation learning to clinical practice.MethodA series of semistructured focus group discussions were undertaken with final year undergraduate nursing students (n = 25).ResultThree themes emerged from the analysis of data: But it's not the same on “real” clinical practice, Having opportunities to apply what we've learned, and Making better connections.ConclusionsThe findings highlight that transfer of simulation learning to practice should not be assumed, particularly when students' clinical placements are in settings that are dissimilar to the high-fidelity simulation scenarios they have experienced.