Abstract:
“Simulation is a teaching and learning strategy used in nursing education for the
preparation of nursing students for clinical practice. The study aimed to determine the
perception of nursing students on simulation as a learning strategy at nursing training
colleges in Nairobi County Kenya. The following specific objectives guided the
study; to assess the perception of nursing students towards simulation program; to
identify how the classification of simulation affects clinical experience; to determine
the perception of nursing students toward clinical experience; and to identify the
benefits of simulation to nursing students on simulation as a learning strategy at
nursing training colleges in Nairobi County, Kenya. Perception and experiences
regarding the adoption of simulation in nursing programs and their advantages in their
learning process and learning environments are not exposed. The study was guided by
the theory of experiential learning, postulated by Kolb (1984). The study adopted a
descriptive exploratory design in a quantitative approach. The target Population for
the study was470 consisting of diploma nursing students training at medical colleges
in Nairobi County. The stratified random sampling technique was used in this study
and the sample size was 210 participants. The instruments were subjected to a
reliability test. The pilot study also helped in validation of the instruments through
amending unclear and obscure questions and discarding ineffective and non-
functional questions. The study used questionnaires to collect primary data from
sampled nursing students from four colleges offering nursing courses within Nairobi
County. Data was analysed through descriptive (frequency, percentages, mean, and
standard deviation) and inferential statistics (correlation coefficient, coefficient of
determination, analysis of variance, and model coefficients).Pearson correlation
coefficient was at a significant level of 0.01. SPSS software was used to compute
analysis. The findings were that integration of simulation programs, classification
simulation, clinical experience as well as benefits of simulation significantly
influences simulation as a learning strategy for nursing students. The findings gave an
R-Square of 0.868 with the standard error of estimate being 0.128. This implies that
using the composite score, integration of simulation program, classification
simulation, clinical experience as well as benefits of simulation significantly
influences simulation as a learning strategy for nursing students. Results also
provided a p-value = 0.000 < 0.05. This further confirms that the predictors positively
and significantly influence simulation as a learning strategy for nursing students.
Furthermore, an increase in integration of simulation program, classification
simulation, clinical experience as well as benefits of simulation by one unit led to an
increase in simulation strategy by 0.502, 0.124, 0.081, and 0.236 units respectively
with a p-value of <0.05 for each variable. Students therefore embrace simulation for
their learning purposes. The study concluded that the integration of simulation
programs, classification of simulation, clinical experience as well as benefits of
simulations significantly influences simulation as a learning strategy among nursing
students.The study strongly recommends that nursing educators should make
simulation an integral part of their teaching for nursing students as embracing an
integral approach will improve students' learning approach, formulation of a policy
framework on the classification of simulation approaches, learners should know the
classifications and practice them effectively. Students should practice clinical skills
so as to generate experience that would yield positive results, the nursing colleges
should embrace simulation learning strategy as it has a lot of benefits to learners.”