Human patient simulation versus case study: Which teaching strategy is more effective in teaching nursing care for the hypoglycemic patient?

Abstract

With the ever-increasing safety concerns presented in a health care setting, it is imperative that nursing students are prepared for the demand of utilizing the skill of critical thinking while providing care to patients experiencing hypoglycemia. Nurse educators strive to implement different teaching strategies to promote critical thinking skills. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the effectiveness of two teaching strategies: human patient simulation (HPS) and a single case study during diabetes education. In addition, the study was used to validate the inclusion of HPS in the authors' nursing program curriculum. A quasi-experimental, two-group pretest and posttest design was utilized to evaluate these teaching strategies. Faculty also completed an objective clinical evaluation, which evaluated students' clinical reasoning, and all students completed a postsurvey evaluating the teaching strategies. Study results indicated the pretest average scores for both groups were identical. The posttest results for the case study group were slightly higher than the simulation group results. On the clinical evaluation tool, the simulation group scored much greater than the case study group. Both results were statistically significant. The postlesson survey results were greater overall for the simulation group on all statements. All students agreed or strongly agreed that simulation was effective. According to the student test results and clinical evaluations, both teaching strategies are beneficial in nursing education; moreover, the student surveys and comments validated the addition of simulation as a valuable teaching strategy. As a result of this research, HPS was formally implemented into the nursing curriculum.