Simulation training and professional self-confidence: A large-scale study of third year nursing students.

Background: While hands-on training is a prerequisite for successful education of nursing students, constraints on clinical training availability and quality have increased focus on effects of in-school simulation training. However, existing research has produced inconsistent conclusions and the literature lacks high-powered evidence from controlled trials.

Objectives: To test effects of a simulation scheme on student professional self-confidence in technical and non-technical skills, as well as to investigate effects on knowledge acquisition and interaction with clinical training.

Making gender diversity work for scientific discovery and innovation.

Gender diversity has the potential to drive scientific discovery and innovation. Here, we distinguish three approaches to gender diversity: diversity in research teams, diversity in research methods and diversity in research questions. While gender diversity is commonly understood to refer only to the gender composition of research teams, fully realizing the potential of diversity for science and innovation also requires attention to the methods employed and questions raised in scientific knowledge-making.