Objective: To determine the effectiveness of simulation method in nursing education. .
Methods: The experimental study was conducted from February 2013 to January 2014 at the Nursing Faculty of Ege University, Izmir, Turkey, and comprised second-year students. The subjects were randomly assigned to experimental or control groups. The experimental group participated in a simulation laboratory that involved the use of a standardized patient. Data was collected and analysed using SPSS 20.
Results: Of the 66 subjects, with a mean age of 20}1.05 years, 62(93.9%) were females and 4(6.1%) were males. There were 32(48.5%) subjects in the experimental group and 34(51.5%) in the control group. There was no statistically significant difference between the groups in the mean scores obtained on the pretest, posttest ( and retention test (p>0.05 each). However, experimental group had higher mean retention test scores (1.90}1.96).
Conclusions: The knowledge levels of both groups increased, but lack of significant difference between the scores shows that both methods are successful.
Keywords: Nursing education, Patient education, Standardised patient..