The Effectiveness of Combining Simulation and Role Playing in Nursing Education

The profession of nursing is affected by a nursing and nursing faculty shortage that is impacting the ability to produce adequate numbers of nurse graduates to address the healthcare needs of the future. Nursing schools are increasingly using simulation and/or role-playing to supplement the decreased number of nurse faculty and clinical sites in order to be able to continue to enroll nursing school applicants. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to examine the experiences of nursing students with role-playing and simulation and the extent to which role-playing with simulation is perceived by students as beneficial for learning within the nursing program at the study site. Constructivism theory and experiential learning theory were the theoretical frameworks used to evaluate the student perceptions of combining simulation and role-playing. Seven students from a bachelor\u27s of nursing program volunteered to participate in the study and individual interviews were conducted. Interview transcripts were open coded and analyzed for patterns and themes. The results of the study indicated that the 7 students preferred the combination of simulation and role-playing over the use of either technique independently. It is recommended that simulation coordinators use the combination of role-playing and simulation to enhance student learning in the simulation laboratory. This study promotes positive social change by providing data to the local site on students\u27 perceptions of the benefits of a technique that is able to support instruction and maintain student enrollment during nursing faculty shortages