The impact of simulated clinical immersion on nursing students’ preparedness for end-of-life care in older adults

Abstract

Background: With the global population aging, there is an urgent need for nurses competent in providing end-of-life (EOL) care for older adults. Traditional nursing curricula often fail to adequately prepare students for the complexities of palliative care, creating a significant competency gap. Simulated Clinical Immersion (SCI) presents an innovative pedagogical strategy to address this deficit by offering students realistic, hands-on learning experiences. Methods: This study employed a quasi-experimental pre-test/post-test design with 128 fourth-year nursing students conducted from September to December 2024. Participants were systematically sampled and assigned to either an intervention group, which received high-fidelity SCI with structured debriefing, or a control group, which received traditional lectures. Data on EOL care knowledge, clinical self-efficacy, and perceived simulation effectiveness were collected using validated instruments and analyzed with t-tests and chi-square tests. Results: The SCI group demonstrated statistically significant improvements in both EOL care knowledge (mean change Δ = 6.20, p