Peer-Assisted Learning With Simulation for Examination and Transition Success

This article reports how one pilot project explored prelicensure baccalaureate nursing students' perceptions of peer-assisted learning combined with simulation-based education to prepare for and enhance readiness for programmatic exit and national examinations. A convergent parallel mixed-methods study design was used to address the research questions. A nonprobability convenience purposive sample of 17 prelicensure baccalaureate nursing students enrolled in a programmatic synthesis course participated. Findings demonstrate how prelicensure nursing students, despite experiencing varied levels of anxiety, are ready to engage in peer-assisted learning strategies that incorporate simulation-based education to gain additional preparation for both programmatic and licensure examinations. In an era where hospitals are onboarding newly licensed nurses with simulation, hospital educators and specialists in the health care industry can look to the literature on anxiety and teaching preferences to determine opportunities to integrate peer learning and simulation within transition into practice programs.