Simulation-Based Learning in Undergraduate Nursing Education in Japan: A review of the literature

摘要

The use of simulation in health professional education has increased rapidly in Japan during the past decade. However, to date, only a limited number of studies reporting this situation has been published. We, herein, endeavored to ascertain how simulation has been adopted in nursing education, reviewing Japanese articles in this field. Searching a database, Nippon Igaku Chuo Zasshi, identified 86 peer-reviewed research studies published in Japanese between 1986 and 2016. Since 1999, around 5 articles per year have consistently been published. Simulation was applied predominantly in basic and medical-surgical nursing areas, to learn physical assessment, fundamental skills, injection, and perioperative care. Forty-one percent of the simulation-based learning was conducted using 3-D-models to provide infection and cardiopulmonary resuscitation education. Intermediate and high fidelity patient simulators were applied to teach physical assessment, fundamental skills, and perioperative care, only in rare cases. In Japan, much higher importance should be placed on simulation-based undergraduate nursing education, and the socioeconomic environment for introducing more sophisticated simulators must be improved.