Changes in nursing students' self-reported professional competence in simulation-based education and clinical placement: a longitudinal study

Abstract

Background A primary learning outcome for nursing students is to achieve the professional competence necessary to provide safe and high-quality care in complex and specialized health services. Simulation-based education (SBE) and clinical placement are two educational settings in which nursing students' professional competence can be facilitated as a learning outcome. Objectives The study objectives were to investigate changes in nursing students' self-reported professional competence in SBE and clinical placement and the transfer of this competence from SBE to clinical placement. We also aimed to investigate which competence areas were highest and lowest rated. Design A quantitative longitudinal survey design was applied. Settings The study took place from May 2019 to January 2020 in a simulation center at a Norwegian university and clinical placement in hospital units. Participants Bachelor nursing students (N = 38) in their second and third year of a four-year part-time Norwegian nursing bachelor's degree program. Methods The Nurse Professional Scale Short Form (NPC Scale-SF) consisting of six competence areas was used to measure nursing students' self-reported professional competence across four time points. Paired sample t-test and descriptive statistics were used to analyse data. Results For changes in the longitudinal perspective, students' self-reported professional competence increased significantly. In the transfer perspective, from SBE to clinical placement, four c…