Paper Title
Nursing Students’ Perception of The Simulation Experience

Abstract
Aims Simulation as a learning activity is widely used in nursing, education as an adjunct to clinical experience to allow students to make clinical decisions in a safe, nonthreatening environment. To develop and enhance simulation used in nursing education, it is necessary to examine the student’s perception of simulation experience. The purpose of this qualitative descriptive study is to describe student’s self perceptions of their learning through simulation experience. Background Nursing students need to attain practical skills in order to improve their clinical performance. Simulation is one of the tools teachers use to help prepare students for real-life experiences. Design Participants will include approximately 9 junior senior level students enrolled in the UOG nursing program, ages 18 and above, both male and female. Participants will be randomly divided into 6 groups. The focused group will be interviewed for approximately 60 minutes. Each group session will include a facilitator, recorder, and participants will take place in a private room. Data Sources CINAHL Full Text electronic databases and inclusion and exclusion criteria were searched. Four journal research articlesbetween 2011-2013were found. Review Methods Focus group discussions with selected juniors and senior nursing students were conducted to obtain students’ opinions and experiences regarding their simulation experience in the nursing program. Interviews were auto-taped and transcribed and thematic analysis were applied to the data to identify emerging themes. Data obtained from the interviews were gathered and analyzed for common themes. Results Facilitation of critical thinking, promotion of active learning, promotion of comfortable learning environment, transferability of skills learned from simulation to clinical practice, insufficient substitute for actual clinical experience, increase exposure to simulation, need of smaller groups, emphasis on the nursing role. Conclusions Simulation in the nursing program is overall a learning experience that students can benefit from in developing skills that they could use in actual clinical setting. It also enhanced their preparation and developed their critical thinking skills through managing health issues and concerns in simulation. However, students expressed that a need for a positive learning environment and less intimidation is necessary for them to perform well. It should be presented as a learning experience rather than a test. Key Words- Simulation, experience, clinical, critical thinking, interview, Edward Thorndike’s Learning Theory