Virtual versus traditional learning during COVID-19: quantitative comparison of outcomes for two articulating ADN cohorts

•Quantitative outcomes of virtual learning on clinical reasoning and judgment are not known.•Clinical reasoning, judgment, and NCLEX-RN® pass rates were similar for virtual and traditional groups.•Virtual simulation may be a viable solution for a portion of the clinical experience. The study compared outcomes between articulating nursing student cohorts virtual learning during COVID-19 and traditional learning prior to COVID-19. Clinical reasoning is vital to developing clinical nursing judgment. During the COVID-19 pandemic, nursing schools replaced traditional classroom and in-hospital clinical with virtual classroom and clinical learning. A quantitative retrospective cohort study compared outcomes of the nursing students virtual learning during COVID-19 (n = 18) with traditional learning methods before COVID-19 (n = 14) at one college in Texas. Outcomes of the study were measured using a standardized Health Education Systems Inc. (HESI®) specialty exam, HESI® end of program (Exit) exam, and HESI® clinical judgment subscales. Independent-samples t-tests and Chi square were conducted to compare outcomes from virtual and traditional learning. No statistically significant difference was observed between the traditional group (M = 752.93, SD = 148.88) and virtual learning group (M = 761.72, SD = 152.11); t(30) = −0.16, p = 0.87 was identified on the HESI® Maternal pediatric Specialty exam. No statistically significant differences were observed on the HESI® Exit exam or clinical judgment subscales; no relationship between the type of learning and NCLEX-RN® pass rates. The study findings are encouraging, yet limited, warranting further investigation of virtual learning.