Role of peer learning and self‐efficacy in parasympathetic activity during the simulation learning process in nursing students

AIMS: This study aimed to investigate the stress level, including parasympathetic nervous activity, of students engaged in peer learning during simulations and the role of self‐efficacy. DESIGN: Observational‐comparative study. METHODS: The participants were 76 nursing students who were asked to evaluate a stable postoperative patient in Scene 1 and the same patient bleeding in Scene 2. In each scene, the students engaged in phases of repeated individual observations of the patient and discussions with peers. We compared each participant's parasympathetic activity during each observation in Scenes 1 and 2. Furthermore, the self‐efficacy score before the simulation was used to divide the participants into 3 groups, and the self‐efficacy and parasympathetic activity during the simulation were analysed. RESULTS: The participants' parasympathetic activity decreased in both scenes with each phase of repeated observation. Two‐way repeated‐measures analysis of variance showed no statistically significant difference in parasympathetic activity during simulations among the three self‐efficacy groups.