The Lived Experience of Clinical Simulation of Novice Nursing Students

Abstract

To effectively use clinical simulation for nursing education, the phenomenon must be understood from the perspective of the nursing student so learner centered teaching/learning strategies can be implemented to achieve desired outcomes. This study examined the lived experience of graded clinical simulation for novice nursing students. Using van Manen’s (1990) method for hermeneutic phenomenological investigation, the written descriptions of 19 novice nursing students were examined. Five thematic clusters; perceived anxiety, seeking and imagining, performing-in-the-moment, critiquing-the-performance, and preparing-for-nursing-practice emerged from the student descriptions of their lived experience of graded clinical simulation. Through understanding students’ perceptions and meanings of clinical simulation when designing, implementing, evaluating individual clinical simulations, this teaching/learning strategy will better meet student needs and learning outcomes.