Effectiveness of simulation in teaching immunization in nursing: a randomized clinical trial

Objective: to evaluate the effectiveness of the clinical simulation on the cognitive performance of nursing students in adult immunization scenarios in the context of Primary Health Care. Method: a controlled and randomized pre-test and post-test clinical trial applied to random intervention and control groups. 34 undergraduate nursing students were selected and divided into two groups: classes with active participation of students and skills training (control); and classes with active participation of students, skills training, and clinical simulation (intervention). Results: the students in the intervention group performed better than those in the control group in the four assessments of cognitive performance, with statistical significance in the assessments of immediate (p=0.031) and late (1-20 days) (p=0.031) knowledge. Conclusion: from the simulation, students learn more in the short and medium terms. The information learned is retained for longer and the students are better prepared for the professional practice.