PEARLS Debriefing Compared to Standard Debriefing Effects on Nursing Students' Professional Competence and Clinical Judgment: A Quasi-Experimental Study

Background: Debriefing is an important learning component of simulation-based education (SBE) for nursing students. The evidence-based, scripted, and structured debriefing model-Promoting Excel-lence and Reflective Learning in Simulation (PEARLS) is meeting the standard of best practice by using a blended approach in the debriefing process with appropriate integration of feedback, debriefing, and/or guided reflection. Evidence demonstrating that PEARLS promotes better outcomes than other debrief-ing strategies is lacking. Our study compared PEARLS to a standard debriefing on nursing students' professional competence and clinical judgment abilities.Methods: A quasi-experimental design was applied to compare differences in the effects of PEARLS (intervention group) and standard debriefing (control group) on nursing students' self-reported profes-sional competence and clinical judgment in SBE and clinical placement.Results: No significant differences in nursing students' self-reported professional competence or clinical judgment were found between the two groups. Professional competence and clinical judgment increased significantly within the intervention group, but not the control group. Conclusion: The results provide some support for implementation of PEARLS debriefing in nursing education. Faculty should receive the training and resources necessary for implementation.(c) 2022 International Nursing Association for Clinical Simulation and Learning. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.