THE EFFECTIVENESS OF A GAMING-SIMULATION STRATEGY FOR TEACHING NURSING DIAGNOSIS SKILLS.

Description

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of a Gaming-Simulation entitled "Name that Nursing Diagnosis" as a strategy for teaching nursing diagnosis. A two group experimental design (gaming-simulation versus case study discussion) was conducted with 39 senior baccalaureate nursing students enrolled in a nursing management course in a rural midwest university. Three research questions addressed were: (1) Does participation in a gaming simulation result in superior diagnostic reasoning ability relative to participation in a case study discussion? (2) Does participation in the gaming-simulation result in superior self-perception of one's clinical decision making skills relative to participation in a case study discussion? (3) What do participants in the gaming simulation and case study discussion identify that they learned from their activity?. The students' diagnostic reasoning ability was measured by the U-Diagnose Situation tests (Arnold, 1988). A two group analysis on variance was conducted using the students' U-diagnose situation test scores. The experimental group had significantly higher test scores relative to students in the control group. Self-perception of clinical decision making skills was determined by Jenkin's Clinical Decision Making in Nursing Scale (CDMNS, 1985). A multivariate analysis of variance revealed that there was not a significant difference on the overall CDMNS scores between the two groups. However the univariate effect for subscale D (search for information and unbiased assimilation of new information) was statistically significant. The experimental group scored higher than the control group. Finally, an authored developed evaluation tool was used to describe what the students learned in the two activities. Students who participated in the gaming simulation identified that they learned ways to interview patients, whereas; the control group did not identify this. A greater percentage of students in the gaming simulation agreed with all of the evaluation statements than students in the case study discussions. This study has implications for nurse educators who teach the diagnostic process. Recommendations for further studies are given.

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