Objective:
Comparing the opinion of undergraduate nursing students about the realistic simulation and the curricular internship in a hospital setting.
Methods:
A comparative study with 55 nursing students who were divided into a control group that did a curriculum internship in a hospital setting, and an experimental group that participated of a realistic simulation prior to the hospital setting. Both groups answered an instrument based on the Likert scale to verify the effectiveness of the two teaching strategies.
Results:
In the experimental group, 69 % totally agreed that the simulation consolidated the teaching-learning process. In the control group, most students (38.5 %) totally disagreed with the internship in the hospital setting as an isolated strategy.
Conclusion:
In the opinion of nursing students, the realistic simulation was effective to acquire and refine knowledge and security, in addition to develop critical thinking in face of the common routine clinical situations in nursing care practice.
Simulation; Education, nursing/ methods; Students, nursing; Computerassisted instruction; Education, nursing; baccalaureate/methods
