Is Clinical Scenario Simulation Teaching Effective in Cultivating the Competency of Nursing Students to Recognize and Assess the Risk of Pressure Ulcers?

To evaluate the effectiveness of a clinical scenario simulation method among nursing students for assessing the risk of patients developing pressure ulcers compared with the traditional didactic method. This experimental study was a controlled trial with single-blind assessments. Nursing students (n = 47) were randomly assigned to either a control or an experimental group. The control group (n = 21) was instructed using traditional didactic methods that only delivered knowledge of pressure ulcers, while the experimental group (n = 26) received a clinical scenario simulation-based method for cultivating the competence to assess the risk of pressure ulcers. Participants underwent pre- and post-intervention based on the objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) comprising objective performance criteria. Data were analyzed using a -test in the SPSS Statistics software program at a significance level of 0.05. No significant differences were observed regarding age or the mean scores of the OSCE in pre-intervention between the two groups. Following the intervention, the mean score of the experimental group's performance was higher (29.04 ± 6.00) compared with the control group (12.38 ± 4.15) ( = 0.000). There were statistical differences between the two groups. Nursing students in the clinical scenario simulation group performed significantly better in recognizing and assessing the risk of pressure ulcers. This study demonstrates that a clinical scenario simulation approach is more effective than employing the traditional didactic method for cultivating students' assessment ability regarding pressure ulcers. This student-centered, clinical scenario simulation method can help to effectively develop students' competency in recognizing and assessing the risk of pressure ulcers, thereby providing a solid foundation for their clinical practice towards enhanced patient safety.