Nursing Students' Perceptions of Using Virtual Patients to Prepare for Clinical Practice

Background: Educators are called on to provide op-portunities for students to practice and integrate skills and knowledge to ensure preparation for the complexi-ties of today's health care environment. This study ex-plored nursing students' perceptions of using virtual pa-tients to prepare for clinical practice. Method:This study used an exploratory qualitative design. Four focus group interviews were conducted with 25 third-year nursing students. Data were collected and analyzed using the-matic content analysis. Results: Four main themes and eight subthemes emerged. Main themes included per-sonal engagement, learning environment, organization-al factors, and improvement needed. Subthemes includ-ed being a computer game player, becoming confident in clinical practice, convenient to practice, an authentic stressful learning environment, organization, better to be combined with mannequin-based simulation, tech-nology difficulties, and aural factors. Conclusion: Al-though some perceived disadvantages were identified, the use of virtual patients could be an effective strategy to improve nursing students' preparation for clinical preparation.