CONCLUSION
Our results support the use of simulation in nursing education. It is, however,
important to recognise that it can only be beneficial to students if it is used
appropriately and in a way that improves the quality of teaching and learning.
There are many aspects to the appropriate use of simulation as an
educational tool that must be taken into consideration and applied for it to
become an effective teaching method.
New training tools require new ways of teaching, and this is particularly true
with the newer patient simulators as they offer greater realistic interactivity
between facilitators and trainees. This means that facilitators can, and
probably should, have less interaction with students during scenarios.
Students themselves should play the major role during the sessions, as they
should be the ones “in control” of the situation. They should decide on the
appropriate treatment and actions to care for the “patient”. This allows them to
learn from mistakes and act on their own judgement. Both basic skills training
and following on from a scenario-based training session are forms of practice,
and ‘practice makes perfect’. Furthermore, students should regularly receive
feedback to make sure that they take away from the experience what was
expected. This is one of the reasons why providing feedback to students is so
important and is often highly valued by them