MASTERING THE PHYSICAL EXAM: SIMULATION-DRIVEN INSTRUCTION FOR NURSING STUDENTS

The role of nursing in the healthcare system has expanded significantly in response to rapid technological advancements, requiring the development of advanced cognitive, affective, and psychomotor skills (Morgan, 2006). Among these, physical examination skills are crucial to nursing practice and are an essential component of nursing education programs (Birks, James, Chung, Can’t, & Davis, 2014). However, the process of acquiring and retaining these skills poses considerable challenges (Kantak & Winstein, 2012). In the context of nursing education, ensuring competence and promoting patient care and safety are paramount objectives (Edeer & Sarıkaya, 2015). To meet these goals, nursing students must engage in high-quality, hands-on clinical experiences that facilitate the development of their clinical skills (Goldsmith, Stewart, & Ferguson, 2006).However, a key challenge facing nursing education is the increasing number of students combined with limited educator availability and clinical placements. These constraints reduce the amount of time students can dedicate to improving their clinical skills (Kaddoura, 2010; Yuan, Williams, Fang, & Ye, 2012). This limitation creates a gap between theoretical knowledge and its application in clinical settings, making it difficult for students to fully develop critical skills necessary for effective patient care, such as recognizing key patient indicators and refining caregiving techniques (Norman, 2012; Tanner, 2006; Yuan et al., 2012). Consequently, there is an urgent need to address these challenges to ensure that nursing students can achieve competency in physical examination skills, thus enhancing the quality of patient care and safety