Learning theories and tools for the assessment of core nursing competencies in simulation: A theoretical review
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Abstract(s)
Aim: To identify the theories used to explain learning in simulation and to examine
how these theories guided the assessment of learning outcomes related to core
competencies in undergraduate nursing students.
Background: Nurse educators face the challenge of making explicit the outcomes of
competency-based education, especially when competencies are conceptualized as
holistic and context dependent.
Design: Theoretical review.
Data Sources: Research papers (N = 182) published between 1999–2015 describing
simulation in nursing education.
Review Methods: Two members of the research team extracted data from the
papers, including theories used to explain how simulation could engender learning
and tools used to assess simulation outcomes. Contingency tables were created to
examine the associations between theories, outcomes and tools.
Results: Some papers (N = 79) did not provide an explicit theory. The 103 remaining
papers identified one or more learning or teaching theories; the most frequent
were the National League for Nursing/Jeffries Simulation Framework, Kolb’s theory
of experiential learning and Bandura’s social cognitive theory and concept of selfefficacy.
Students’ perceptions of simulation, knowledge and self-confidence were
the most frequently assessed, mainly via scales designed for the study where they
were used. Core competencies were mostly assessed with an observational
approach.
Conclusion: This review highlighted the fact that few studies examined the use of
simulation in nursing education through learning theories and via assessment of core
competencies. It also identified observational tools used to assess competencies in
action, as holistic and context-dependent constructs.
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