Impact of prebriefing on competency performance, clinical judgment and experience in simulation: An experimental study.

Background: Prebriefing is the introductory phase of the simulation process, however, little nursing education research is available on this aspect of simulation. Reflection theory and concept mapping informed a model-based structured prebriefing activity to prepare students for meaningful simulation learning.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to examine the intervention of structured prebriefing for its effect on nursing students' competency performance, clinical judgment and their perceived prebriefing experience.

Design: An experimental group-randomized design was used in this study; the intervention group who received structured prebriefing was compared to the control group.

Setting: The study was conducted at a university school of nursing in Canada.

Participants: Baccalaureate nursing students (N=76) enrolled in a fourth-year medical-surgical course participated in this study.

Method: Competency performance, clinical judgment, and the perception of the prebriefing experience of those participants receiving structured prebriefing and those receiving traditional prebriefing activities, were compared. The relationship between simulation performance and students' self-rated prebriefing experience was also examined. Scores from the Creighton Competency Evaluation Instrument and the Prebriefing Experience Scale were analyzed using parametric and non-parametric statistics.

Results: A statistically significant difference was demonstrated between groups for competency performance (p<0.001), clinical judgment (p<0.001) and prebriefing experience (p<0.001). No relationship was found between perception of prebriefing experience and students' simulation performance.

Conclusion: Theory-based, structured prebriefing can impact nursing student competency performance, clinical judgment and perceptions of prebriefing, and may enhance meaningful simulation learning.