Acute Care Nurse Practitioner Students’ Perceptions of a Debriefing Experience After a Cardiac Emergency High-Fidelity Simulation: A Qualitative Study

Acute care nurse practitioners need specialized training to prepare for their advanced role. Limited research investigates acute care nurse practitioners’ leadership skills related to team dynamics and evidence-based practices. This study explored students’ perceptions of a simulation and debriefing experience and the effects of debriefing on their ability to transfer their leadership-related learning. A qualitative exploratory approach was used. Students (N = 28) were divided between a video-assisted debriefing group (n = 16) and a verbal debriefing group (n = 12). Focus group interviews were conducted in order to explore students’ experience of acting as team leader when managing emergency dysrhythmias during high-fidelity simulation code scenarios. Three themes emerged: leadership training, video-assisted debriefing and verbal debriefing, and transferability. This study adds valuable information about how simulation technology could be used in leadership skills learning by and training for nurse practitioners.