CQUniversity
Browse

File(s) not publicly available

A review of virtual-simulation for assessing healthcare students' clinical competency

journal contribution
posted on 2021-04-20, 04:14 authored by Elisabeth Coyne, Pauline CallejaPauline Calleja, Elizabeth Forster, Frances Lin
Objectives: Health professional education is transitioning to online platforms to meet students' need for flexibility and international access. However, there is a necessity for authentic presentation of educational material par-ticularly in regard to clinical skills development. There has been major growth in the delivery of virtual simu-lated-based learning and assessment to provide clinical skill acquisition in an online platform. The aim of this review was to explore the use of virtual simulation to assess clinical competence in health education. Design: Integrative review. Data sources: Peer reviewed studies published between 2008 to March 2020 were searched across PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, CINAHL Medline, Scopus, and PsycINFO. Review methods: The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses was followed. Twenty- three studies, which met the inclusion criteria, were downloaded, and a quality appraisal and analysis was completed by the research team. Results: A thematic analysis identified four themes; pedagogy differences across disciplines, debriefing to en-hance learning, preparing healthcare professionals in a safe and cost-effective environment, and managing challenges of virtual simulation. Debriefing with students within the online environment enabled students to share experience and reflect on choices for a deeper learning experience. Conclusions: Virtual simulation can prepare students for the clinical environment by providing safe practice within complex clinical situations. Challenges related to managing and debriefing students must be overcome to ensure best student learning outcomes. Virtual simulation is a feasible strategy to assess students' clinical competency and support their learning in both medical and nursing programs, however simulation should be authentic and incorporate reflection.

History

Volume

96

Start Page

1

End Page

10

Number of Pages

10

eISSN

1532-2793

ISSN

0260-6917

Location

Scotland

Publisher

Elsevier BV

Language

en

Peer Reviewed

  • Yes

Open Access

  • No

Acceptance Date

2020-10-01

External Author Affiliations

University of the Sunshine Coast; Griffith University

Era Eligible

  • Yes

Medium

Print-Electronic

Journal

Nurse Education Today

Article Number

104623

Usage metrics

    CQUniversity

    Exports

    RefWorks
    BibTeX
    Ref. manager
    Endnote
    DataCite
    NLM
    DC