A trial of e-simulation of sudden patient deterioration (FIRST2ACT WEB) on student learning

Summary Background High-fidelity simulation pedagogy is of increasing importance in health professional education; however, face-to-face simulation programs are resource intensive and impractical to implement across large numbers of students. Objectives To investigate undergraduate nursing students' theoretical and applied learning in response to the e-simulation program—FIRST2ACT WEBTM, and explore predictors of virtual clinical performance. Design and setting Multi-center trial of FIRST2ACT WEBTM accessible to students in five Australian universities and colleges, across 8 campuses. Participants A population of 489 final-year nursing students in programs of study leading to license to practice. Methods Participants proceeded through three phases: (i) pre-simulation—briefing and assessment of clinical knowledge and experience; (ii) e-simulation—three interactive e-simulation clinical scenarios which included video recordings of patients with deteriorating conditions, interactive clinical tasks, pop up responses to tasks, and timed performance; and (iii) post-simulation feedback and evaluation. Descriptive statistics were followed by bivariate analysis to detect any associations, which were further tested using standard regression analysis. Results Of 409 students who commenced the program (83% response rate), 367 undergraduate nursing students completed the web-based program in its entirety, yielding a completion rate of 89.7%; 38.1% of students achieved passing clinical performance across three scenarios, and the proportion achieving passing clinical knowledge increased from 78.15% pre-simulation to 91.6% post-simulation. Knowledge was the main independent predictor of clinical performance in responding to a virtual deteriorating patient R2 = 0.090, F(7, 352) = 4.962, p Discussion The use of web-based technology allows simulation activities to be accessible to a large number of participants and completion rates indicate that ‘Net Generation’ nursing students were highly engaged with this mode of learning. Conclusion The web-based e-simulation program FIRST2ACTTM effectively enhanced knowledge, virtual clinical performance, and self-assessed knowledge, skills, confidence, and competence in final-year nursing students.