Is Clinical Scenario Simulation Teaching Effective in Cultivating the Competency of Nursing Students to Recognize and Assess the Risk of Pressure Ulcers?

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effectiveness of a clinical scenario simulation method among nursing students for assessing the risk of patients developing pressure ulcers compared with the traditional didactic method. METHODS: This experimental study was a controlled trial with single-blind assessments. Nursing students (n = 47) were randomly assigned to either a control or an experimental group. The control group (n = 21) was instructed using traditional didactic methods that only delivered knowledge of pressure ulcers, while the experimental group (n = 26) received a clinical scenario simulation-based method for cultivating the competence to assess the risk of pressure ulcers. Participants underwent pre- and post-intervention based on the objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) comprising objective performance criteria. Data were analyzed using a t-test in the SPSS Statistics software program at a significance level of 0.05. RESULTS: No significant differences were observed regarding age or the mean scores of the OSCE in pre-intervention between the two groups. Following the intervention, the mean score of the experimental group’s performance was higher (29.04 ± 6.00) compared with the control group (12.38 ± 4.15) (P = 0.000). There were statistical differences between the two groups. Nursing students in the clinical scenario simulation group performed significantly better in recognizing and assessing the risk of pressure ulcers. CONCLUSION: This study demonstrates that a clinical scenario simulation approach is more effective than employing the traditional didactic method for cultivating students’ assessment ability regarding pressure ulcers. This student-centered, clinical scenario simulation method can help to effectively develop students’ competency in recognizing and assessing the risk of pressure ulcers, thereby providing a solid foundation for their clinical practice towards enhanced patient safety.