Evaluating Undergraduate Nursing Students\u27 Learning Using Standardized Patients

Background: The use of standardized patients is an established training technique in medical education. However, this problem-based learning approach is relatively new to the field of nursing education. Its benefits to undergraduate nursing education continue to be underinvestigated in the nursing literature. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of using standardized patients in improving health assessment skills among first-year nursing students. Methods: A comparative design was conducted on a convenience sample of 108 first-year undergraduate nursing students. Study participants were recruited from a university and community college collaborative nursing program in southwestern Ontario. Results: Analysis of covariance results showed that after adjusting for baseline differences, the intervention group had higher objective structured clinical examination mean scores than the control group (M = 78.57 and 69.28, F = 24.13, P ≤001). However, the two groups were not different in their theory scores (M = 77.23 and 77.29, F =002, P =963). Conclusion: The findings suggest that the use of standardized patients is an effective educational technique in undergraduate nursing education. © 2012 Elsevier Inc