• High-fidelity simulation

  • High-fidelity simulations strive to be as realistic as possible and include many elements, and also simulate the relationship or interactions between said elements. Simulation is widely used across nurse education, both in undergraduate settings and in clinical education for ongoing professional development. To be effective for learning, simulation activities need to be pedagogically scaffolded into the overall learning plan, be supported by experienced educators, and include debrief techniques. High-fidelity simulation provides nursing students the opportunity to practice, develop, and apply knowledge and skills in a realistic clinical situation while remaining in a safe environment. It also mimics real life as closely as possible, and are frequently used as a substitute for hands-on training that would be too risky and cost too much to execute.

 

• Low-fidelity simulation

  • Low fidelity simulations mirror the actual action or scenario closely but leave out factors that the user might experience in real life. A symptom checker uses a simulation of the human body that allows users to select the area where they are experiencing discomfort and then to narrow down their symptoms using a list that helps determine a possible condition or illness. The symptom checker leaves out key factors like multiple areas of pain or discomfort, previous injury, pre-existing conditions, side effects of drugs or medication, and age. However, it provides a somewhat viable alternative to what you might do in a doctor’s office upon examination – “It hurts here,” without factoring in everything else.

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• In training, low-fidelity simulations leave out some or many elements of the real-life experience so that the user can grasp the smaller concepts leading up to the whole of what they are learning.

 

Which is better: low fidelity or high fidelity?

Some studies reveal that the outcomes of training did not differ by low-fidelity and high-fidelity simulations. Besides, healthcare students’ self-confidence did improve in both low-fidelity and high-fidelity simulation. Thus, low-fidelity and high-fidelity serve the same purpose to train nursing students be clinically competent. It would be better to adopt low-fidelity simulation into nursing curriculum first, then gradually move on to high-fidelity simulation.