Simulation Practices and Medical Error Tendencies in Nursing Students

Plain-language summary

As the professional group that has the most frequent contact with patients, nurses are critical to the sustainability of safe care. Literature demonstrates that nursing practice is prone to error due to heavy workloads, time pressures, complex clinical tasks, inadequate rest, inappropriate working conditions, and the physiological strain of demanding shifts. When these conditions strain both physical and cognitive resources, the risk of errors during treatment administration increases. Medical errors remain one of the most devastating realities of healthcare. Data from the World Health Organization reveals the significant morbidity and mortality caused by errors on a global scale. Numerous studies have demonstrated that student nurses have a significant rate of errors, and those with limited clinical experience are particularly at risk in fundamental areas such as medication administration, asepsis, and patient identification. Increasing patient numbers, short stays, rapid turnover, and the intense pace of clinics negatively impact student nurses' ability to provide safe care, prompting both educators and students to seek stronger pedagogical solutions. This is where simulation-based training comes into play. Simulation is emerging as a contemporary teaching approach that enables students to develop their clinical skills, communication, decision-making, and self-efficacy in a risk-free, safe, and structured environment. It is increasingly being used because it supports knowledge and skill transfer, reduces fear and anxiety, strengthens self-confidence, and provides the opportunity to experience errors. In-situ simulation and standardized patient practice offer strong potential for reducing students' error proneness by providing an experience closest to real-world clinical situations. However, the lack of a study in the literature examining the effects of these two methods, particularly on the medical error proneness and attitudes of final-year nursing students, is a significant gap. This study aims to strengthen a critical area of nursing education. The aim is to evaluate the impact of in-situ simulation and standardized patient practice on final-year nursing students' medical error proneness and attitudes toward medical errors and to reveal how they transform students' competencies in providing safe care.

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