Response: Effect Size in Clinical Education Using Standardized Geriatric Patient Simulation

Abstract

In the October issue of Clinical Simulation in Nursing, Skinner, 2017 Skinner H.M. Simulation: Preparing nursing students to work with community-dwelling older adults. Clinical Simulation in Nursing. 2017; 13: 520-523 Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF Scopus (9) Google Scholar presents a simulation curriculum to prepare undergraduate nursing students to work with a geriatric population in the community. The stated purpose of the investigation was, “… to improve nursing students' perceptions of older adults and provide them an opportunity to practice competent care that empowers older adults to stay healthy,” with a stated goal “… to discover if participation in the simulation changed undergraduate nursing students' perception of older adults and prepared them to care for older adults during their community health capstone experience” ( Skinner, 2017 Skinner H.M. Simulation: Preparing nursing students to work with community-dwelling older adults. Clinical Simulation in Nursing. 2017; 13: 520-523 Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF Scopus (9) Google Scholar ). The study measured knowledge and perceptions of older persons and the aging, using the Facts on Aging Quiz—revised ( Breytspraak and Badura, 2015 Breytspraak, L., & Badura, L. (2015). Facts on Aging Quiz (revised; based on Palmore (1977; 1981)). Retrieved from https://aging.umkc.edu/quiz Google Scholar ). The author states, “Qualitative methods were used to analyze transcripts and identify themes” ( Skinner, 2017 Skinner H.M. Simulation: Preparing nursing students to work with community-dwelling older adults. Clinical Simulation in Nursing. 2017; 13: 520-523 Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF Scopus (9) Google Scholar ). Effect Size in Clinical Education Using Standardized Geriatric Patient SimulationClinical Simulation In NursingVol. 16PreviewThe recommendation by Skinner (2017) that a standardized geriatric patient simulation should be integrated into community health courses was not fully supported by the data and findings. First, in addition to the lack of statistical significance noted by the authors, the effect size was calculated to determine the difference in aging knowledge test scores before and after the simulation and found it was only r = 9.1%, which is low according to Cohen's criteria (Cohen, 1988); therefore, there was not even a trend toward effectiveness in increasing knowledge of aging. Full-Text PDF