web-based simulation in nursing

Simulation-based education (SBE) is a rapidly developing specialty in the clinical education of nursing students and healthcare professionals (Harder, 2009; Motola, Devine, Chung, Sullivan, & Issenberg, 2013). Advances in simulation technology and instructional design allow students to perform a range of clinical tasks in a simulated environment that mimics reality, yet forms no risk to real patients (Khan, Pattison, & Sherwood, 2011; McGaghie, 2010). These range from skills-based procedures using part-task trainers (anatomical models; eg., an arm), to role-plays in full-scale simulated clinical events (Decker et al., 2008). Such scenarios require students to practice their psychomotor skills and to make reasoned decisions about patient assessment and management (Lasater, 2007). A key feature of education using simulation is that it allows students to consolidate learning as they apply knowledge to skills-based practice (Kardong-Edgren, Starkweather, & Ward, 2008; Lewis, Strachan, & McKenzie Smith, 2012). We describe nursing students’ participation in laboratory and web-based simulation education.

Simulation settings vary according to choice of topic and level of fidelity or degree to which it aims to match reality (G. Alinier, Hunt, B., Gordon, R. & Harwood, C. ,, 2006). Will the use of lifelike high fidelity computerized mannequins or live actors as patients in ward-like settings be preferable? Advances in technology have allowed alternatives: development computer-based education (CBE) programs with various levels of fidelity. One form is a case-based CBE incorporating video of a real human patient (Bowden, Rowlands, Buckwell, & Abbott, 2013). In another study in medicine, case-based linear-interactive simulations on a computer ...

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...nducted using screen-based simulation or else laboratory-skills teaching (Durmaz, Dicle, Cakan, & Cakir, 2012). No difference was found in students’ post-education knowledge or clinical decision making, indicating that both teaching strategies were suitable. Other primary studies have confirmed the effectiveness of screen-based simulation compared with traditional teaching (Mosalanejad et al., 2012; Ozturk & Dinç, 2012?). In addition, a meta-analysis found web-based education equally as effective as traditional classroom instruction for teaching procedural knowledge and meeting learners’ expectations (Sitzmann, Kraiger, Stewart, & Wisher, 2006). Thus, we can conclude that the use of virtual systems, particularly with interactive media, are at least as effective as other methods of simulation education. Both LB and CB simulation are suitable strategies for teaching.