Using virtual patient simulation with partial task trainer: A quasi-experimental study.

Background: Nursing students need educational approaches that provide sufficient knowledge and practice opportunities to improve their skills.

Aim: To analyze the benefits of incorporating partial task trainers into virtual patients, focusing on the effectiveness, performance, self-confidence, satisfaction and knowledge scores among senior nursing students in urinary catheterization for patients with acute urinary retention.

Design: A randomized, quasi-experimental design.

Methods: The study was conducted at a nursing faculty between April-May 2023 with 71 senior nursing students: 35 in the virtual patient group (Group I) and 36 in the virtual patient and partial task trainer group (Group II). The data were gathered using: Personal Information Form, Student Satisfaction and Self-confidence in Learning Scale, Simulation Effectiveness Tool, Performance Report and Knowledge Report.

Results: The satisfaction and self-confidence scores for Group I were 4.67 (SD 0.49) and 4.38 (SD 0.48), whereas Group II scored 4.88 (SD 0.22) and 4.70 (SD 0.34), respectively. The differences were statistically significant (p<0.05). For the Simulation Effectiveness Tool, Group I scored 31.05 (SD 3.28) for confidence subdimension and 85.05 (SD 7.37) for the total score, whereas Group II scored 32.57 (SD 2.73 and 88.48 (SD 6.60), respectively. These differences were statistically significant (p<0.05). No significant differences were found between the groups in the prebriefing, learning and debriefing subdimensions of the Simulation Effectiveness Tool (p>0.05). Performance and knowledge scores also showed no significant differences (p>0.05). Effect sizes for all statistically significant differences were moderate.

Conclusions: The results show that using virtual patients with partial task trainers increases students' satisfaction and self-confidence and is perceived as effective in developing nursing interventions for patients with acute urinary retention.