Ethical Consideration of Counselor Education Teaching Strategies

Psychometric testing of the Norwegian version of the questionnaire, student satisfaction and self-confidence in learning, used in simulation

Simulation is increasingly being used as an approach to learning in nurse education. There is a need for frameworks and valid evaluation tools to help guide educators in implementing the method. The questionnaire, Student Satisfaction and Self-Confidence in Learning, which consists of two subscales, has been developed by the National League for Nursing in the US for evaluating simulation used in nurse education. The aim of the present study was to test the questionnaire, Student Satisfaction and Self-Confidence in Learning, for psychometric properties in a Norwegian nurse education context. A sample consisting of 130 nursing students participated in a simulation situation, and 123 responded. When the questionnaire was tested in its entirety, psychometric testing conducted with a principal component analysis did not reveal a stable factor solution. The two subscales were then tested separately. The analysis for Satisfaction with Current Learning suggested a one-component solution, thereby explaining 62.8% of the variance, and the internal reliability was 0.84. With regard to Self-Confidence in Learning, no stable solution was achieved, and an alpha value of 0.64 was shown. To further validate the questionnaire, Student Satisfaction and Self-Confidence in Learning, more studies by various nursing programmes in different cultural contexts are recommended.

Nursing students' perceptions of high- and low-fidelity simulation used as learning methods

Due to the increasing focus on simulation used in nursing education, there is a need to examine how the scenarios and different simulation methods used are perceived by students. The aim of this study was to examine nursing students' perceptions of scenarios played out in different simulation methods, and whether their educational level influenced their perception. The study had a quantitative, evaluative and comparative design. The sample consisted of baccalaureate nursing students (n = 86) within various educational levels. The students were randomly divided into groups. They solved a patient case adapted to their educational level by using a high-fidelity patient simulator, a static mannequin or a paper/pencil case study. Data were collected by three instruments developed by the National League for Nursing. The results showed that the nursing students reported satisfaction with the implementation of the scenarios regardless of the simulation methods used. The findings indicated that the students who used the paper/pencil case study were the most satisfied. Moreover, educational level did not seem to influence their perceptions.

CONCLUSIONS

Independent of educational level, the findings indicated that simulation with various degrees of fidelity could be used in nursing education. There is a need for further research to examine more closely the rationale behind the students' perception of the simulation methods.