Evaluating the Effectiveness of a Self-Debrief Prior to an Asynchronous Debrief

Abstract

Best practice guidelines to conduct a self-debrief following a virtual simulation games are limited. This study aims to understand students’ debriefing experiences with a self-debrief combined with a facilitator-led asynchronous debrief. Fifty first-year BScN nursing students enrolled in a maternal infant nursing course participated in this study. A quasi-experimental design compared how student perceptions of their debriefing experience were impacted by the inclusion of a self-debrief in advance of a facilitator-led debrief to an asynchronous debrief alone. Statistical analysis was used to analyze the differences between the two interventions. Statistical analysis did not demonstrate statistically significant results between the two debriefing strategies. The means for the total debriefing experience scale were the same for both intervention groups. These findings suggest that asynchronous debriefing alone or in combination with a self-debrief is an effective method to develop student knowledge and skill following a virtual simulation games.