Participants
The study participants were 56 nursing students in their fourth year of college in Korea.The G*power 3.1 program was used to calculate the sample size of this study. A two-tailed test with .05 significance level (a), .8 statistical power (1-β), and .4 effect size (d) showed that 52 subjects were needed. All participants were enrolled in the simulation common curriculum, understood the purpose of the study, and agreed to participate.
Nursing Simulation
Simulation learning is education that provides concrete learning opportunities according to structured scenarios in a recreated clinical environment; the simulation process consists of briefing, simulation, and debriefing (Lathrop, Winningham, & VandeVusse, 2007). In this study, simulation learning involved a recreated simulation of clinical practice that allows learners to experience clinical situations based on the nursing scenarios developed by the present investigator.
The nursing simulation was carried out in seven to eight groups, each organized to have three to four students. One professor and one teaching assistant were in full charge of the simulation instruction. In considering the prior learning of senior students based on the nursing curriculum, patient cases of musculoskeletal and digestive system diseases were used in the simulation. The specific operation contents of the nursing simulation learning were course orientation, nursing skills practice using middle and low fidelity simulator and task trainer, development of patient case modules, module operation and simulation using briefing and high fidelity simulator, and debriefing.