Examining Validity, Fidelity, and Reliability of Human Patient Simulation

Human patient simulation is increasingly being used in summative or high-stakes performance evaluation. Given the significance of the decisions made, based on performance, it is essential that there is demonstrated content validity of the human patient simulation scenario, implementation fidelity by the facilitators, and reliability of the scoring rubric and raters before its use in decision making. The focus of this article is to define these three measurement concepts and describe methods commonly used to examine them. Resources are also suggested for those who are interested in more information about these concepts.