The effect of high-fidelity simulation training on medical-surgical graduate nurses' perceived ability to respond to patient clinical emergencies.

BACKGROUND: Recognition of and early intervention for patients with acutely deteriorating conditions is often the responsibility of medical-surgical nurses. This study examined the effect of simulation on medical-surgical graduate nurses' perceived ability and confidence in responding to patient clinical emergencies.
METHOD: Fifty medical-surgical graduate students participated in high-fidelity immersive simulations. Questionnaires completed before and after simulation asked participants to rate their perceived ability and confidence.
RESULTS: After simulation, participants reported increased confidence in their ability to perform both technical and nontechnical aspects of responding to patient clinical emergencies. Ninety-four percent of participants identified formal debriefing as the most useful aspect of the simulation experience.
CONCLUSION: Medical-surgical graduate nurses' confidence and perceived technical and nontechnical skills during patient clinical emergencies are enhanced following simulation. The ability of graduates to transfer the increased confidence and perceived advanced resuscitation skills following simulation to the clinical environment needs to be investigated. Copyright 2009, SLACK Incorporated.