Development and application of the mobile-based virtual nursing simulation training content: A mixed methods study

Purpose: Nursing clinical practice education is transforming with the advent of mobile education and the unique experiences it offers in caring for virtual patients. For this innovative approach, this study aims to evaluate the efficacy of mobile-based virtual women’s breast cancer nursing simulation training content on nursing students’ confidence, satisfaction, and learning flow. It also examines the nursing students’ virtual patient care experiences.Methods: A mixed methods approach using a convergent design was employed to examine students’ cancer care confidence and satisfaction, learning flow, and learning experiences. Quantitative data through online questionnaires and qualitative data through focus group interviews were collected, merged, and analyzed.Results: This study developed a virtual nursing training module aimed at caring for women with breast cancer, a novel approach to facilitate mobile-based simulation training for nursing students. Data were analyzed using descriptive analysis, a chi-squared test, Fisher’s exact test, t-test for participant homogeneity (experimental: 20, control: 20), independent t-test, and paired t-test. Satisfaction (t=3.53, <i>p</i>=.001) and confidence (t=4.07, <i>p</i>=.001), as well as flow (t=3.78, <i>p</i>=.001), significantly improved in the experimental group compared to the control group. Two core themes and five sub-themes were derived from the experimental group’s experiences acquired by caring for women with breast cancer virtually, including that the students “Virtually cared for breast cancer patients, learning as if real.”Conclusion: The mobile-based virtual nursing simulation training content allowed nursing students to upgrade their comprehensive nursing care skills by experiencing a fun and practical environment made possible by a new learning method.