Components of Clinical Simulation Associated With the Development of Clinical Reasoning in Nursing Students

Abstract

Clinical reasoning constitutes a cognitive process through which nursing students collect, interpret, prioritize, and integrate patient information to guide care decisions. The study analyzed the components of clinical simulation associated with the development of clinical reasoning in nursing students. A documentary review of scientific literature on simulation-based nursing education was conducted, with emphasis on scenario design, prebriefing, fidelity, facilitation, repetition, feedback, debriefing, and virtual simulation. The reviewed evidence showed that clinical reasoning was not linked to the isolated use of high-fidelity technology, but rather to the interaction between purposeful scenario design, adequate learner preparation, active participation, repeated exposure to clinical situations, guided facilitation, and structured reflective debriefing. Virtual patient simulation also showed favorable results when it incorporated several clinical scenarios, patient management activities, sufficient interaction time, and postscenario feedback. It was concluded that the educational value of clinical simulation depended mainly on the coherence of its components and on their orientation toward making students interpret cues, establish priorities, justify decisions, evaluate responses, and reconsider their reasoning.