Nursing students’ perceptions of simulation anxiety in the primary nurse role

Background

Recent studies show high-fidelity simulation can cause moderate to high levels of anxiety in nursing students which can negatively affect their learning, especially when students are participating in the primary nurse role, but it is currently unknown how students are coping with this anxiety.

Aim

This study poses the following questions: 1) What coping mechanisms do nursing students use to manage simulation-related anxiety in the primary nurse role? and, 2) What are nursing students’ perceptions of the effectiveness of their coping strategies aimed at reducing simulation-related anxiety?

Methods

Seven nursing students participated in a focus group in which they discussed their feelings surrounding simulation, coping strategies for simulation anxiety, and the effectiveness of these coping strategies.

Results

The participants reported experiencing simulation anxiety but utilized few coping strategies and expressed that their ability to learn was negatively affected by anxiety in the primary nurse role.

Conclusions

These results indicate a need for nursing instructors to aid students in developing coping strategies to increase students’ learning during simulation.