IntroductionCritical thinking is regarded as imperative to healthcare quality and patient
outcomes; therefore, effective strategies in nursing education are required
to promote students’ critical thinking abilities, leading to their success
in clinical work. Accordingly, simulation-based education has been suggested
as a measure for achieving this goal.ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to explore whether a nursing education course with
blended simulation activities (hands-on simulations with high-fidelity
manikins and a web-based interactive simulation program) could increase
nursing students’ critical thinking skills.MethodA quasiexperimental, one-group pretest and post-test design was utilized.
Data were collected through premeasurement and postmeasurement using a
critical thinking questionnaire and were analyzed using paired samplet-tests, independent samplet-tests,
and the nonparametric Wilcoxon signed-rank test. The effect size was
calculated using Cohen'sdformula.ResultsSixty-one nursing students (57 women and four men, mean age 30 years)
participated in the study. Findings of the paired samplet-test showed a significantly higher mean score for
posteducation than pre-education, indicating a significant change in nurses’
critical thinking capabilities (p< .001). The results
for Cohen'sdformula ( − 0.87) of the mean scores between
pre-education and posteducation indicated a large effect size. The Wilcoxon
signed-rank test also showed a statistically significant increase in the
students’ critical thinking abilities between pre-education and
posteducation measures (p< .001). No statistically
significant differences were found in the mean score according to age or
sex.ConclusionThis study concluded that blended simulation-based education can increase
nursing students’ critical thinking capabilities. As a result, this study
builds on the use of simulation as a measure for developing and promoting
critical thinking abilities during nursing education.