Debriefing Methods in Health Care Simulations on Clinical Competencies among Nurses: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis Protocol

Objective: This review aims to evaluate the effect of debriefing on clinical judgment and clinical reasoning among nurses.Background and rationale: Simulation-based education is highly regarded as a valuable strategy in nursing, as it offers simulated and realistic clinical experiences in a safe environment and enhances patient safety.Debriefing is acknowledged as the most important part of turning experience into learning and supports the development of clinical competence and decision-making among nursing personnel.Study designs and methods: The review will be conducted according to preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (PRISMA) guidelines.Prospero registration has been completed (CRD420251137142).We will carry out a literature search of research articles published in peer-reviewed journal databases, such as PubMed, Scopus, and Ovid-Medline etc., using keywords such as student nurses, registered nurse, simulation, debriefing structured debriefing, clinical reasoning, and clinical judgments.The search will be constrained to the English language and follow three stages.The screening process at both levels (abstract and full text) will be completed by the two authors independently, with differences resolved through discussion with the third author.Quality assessment of the screened articles.The quality of all selected papers will be assessed using the Joanna Briggs Institute Manual (JBI) clinical assessment criteria for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and non-RCTs.Results: A descriptive synthesis will be conducted and presented as a narrative summary for each study in a tabular format.A meta-analysis will be conducted for clinical judgment abilities and clinical reasoning.A trial-sequential analysis will be conducted for a firm conclusion of results.Conclusion: This review will assist nurses and educators in recognizing evidence-based debriefing approaches in the clinical decision-making process.What is already known about this topic: A systematic review conducted in 2024 showed that there is very little good comparative evidence to determine which approaches improve educational or clinical practice, despite its widespread use (Duff et al., 2014).What this paper adds: This review aims to synthesize evidence to inform best practices in simulation-based nursing education.