Design, Implementation and Evaluation of Clinical Pharmacology Simulation Training Method for Nursing Students of Tehran School of Nursing and Midwifery

Educating students in a safe environment such as simulated centers can be effective in providing educational services and preparation for clinical work. Accordingly, the present study was conducted with the aim of designing, implementing and evaluating clinical pharmacology simulation training method for nursing students.

This study was performed in 2019-2021 in three main phases of design, implementation and evaluation of Pharmaceutical Skills Center in Clinical Skills Center of Tehran School of Nursing and Midwifery. First, the design phase was accomplished by preparing the space and the desired drugs. Due to the prevalence of Covid-19 disease, part of the implementation and evaluation phase was carried out in the virtual context. Before and after the internship, students' knowledge, skills, satisfaction and clinical reasoning were measured using relevant questionnaires and analyzed using descriptive and analytical statistics.

The mean scores of the three variables in terms of pharmacology knowledge, drug calculation skills and clinical reasoning of pharmacology of nursing students before and after the internship were examined. The results demonstrated that all three means were significantly improved compared to that of before the intervention (P <0.001 and P = 0.001). The mean of total students' satisfaction with pharmacology internship course turned out to be 30.57 (3.2), which indicated the relative satisfaction with the training course.

In general, the results of the study indicated an improvement at the level of pharmacological knowledge, clinical reasoning of pharmacology and a significant improvement in pharmacological skills. Despite the limitations of Covid 19, this training method seems to augment the performance of nursing students in pharmacology.