| The lack of clinical sites, faculty shortage, and increased acuity of patients limit nursing students' experiences in traditional clinical settings. High fidelity simulation is a current teaching modality that has been used in nursing programs as a way to increase nursing students' knowledge, confidence, self-efficacy, and critical thinking. The intention of this study was to examine the relationship between nursing students' perceptions of high fidelity simulation and their perceptions of their own clinical reasoning skills. The sample consisted of 36 senior nursing students in a Bachelor of Science (BSN) nursing program. The researcher collected quantitative data by means of the Lasater Clinical Judgment Rubric and the Simulation Design Scale. The Lasater Clinical Judgment Rubric provided information on the perceptions students had on their clinical reasoning skills, whereas the Simulation Design Scale provided information on students' perceptions of their high fidelity simulation experience. An association between the variables was explored using Pearson correlational analysis. Statistical results showed a strong and positive correlation between students' perceptions of high fidelity simulation and students' perceptions of their clinical reasoning skills. The study contributed knowledge in regard to the connection between high fidelity simulation and clinical reasoning skills among senior nursing students. The study has implications for nurses who need to develop clinical reasoning skills to care for their patients, and nurses who use high fidelity simulation as a teaching modality to enhance students' clinical reasoning skills. Future research using a larger sample size is recommended to verify the results. |
