Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
Clinical Simulation in Nursing, cilt.113, 2026 (SCI-Expanded, SSCI, Scopus)
Background: Physical examination aids in determining an individual's health status, providing comprehensive nursing care, and making effective decisions regarding health status. Aim: This study aimed to evaluate the effect of a virtual game simulation on nursing students' physical examination skills related to the heart, abdominal, and respiratory systems. Methods: This is a pretest-posttest randomized controlled study. The study was conducted in the fall semester of 2024-2025 with 120 second-year students enrolled in the physical examination course, Faculty of Nursing, at a state university in a province of Türkiye. The data were collected using the following instruments: the Descriptive Information Form, Skill Checklists for Physical Examination of the Heart, Abdomen, and Respiratory System, and the Evaluation Form for Virtual Game Simulation for Physical Examination. Results: The posttest scores of the experimental group in the domains of heart, abdomen, respiratory system, and total physical examination skills were significantly higher. The experimental group's students offered three positive statements regarding the virtual game simulation. These statements were as follows: "It prepared us for the clinic", "It improved my skills for physical examination", and "The environment was visually realistic". The three negative statements expressed by the students were as follows: "I would like to perform a physical examination on a real person", "I experienced technical problems", and "I would not want to play again". Conclusions: It was determined that virtual game simulations are effective in improving nursing students' physical examination skills related to the heart, abdomen, and respiratory systems and that student opinions about the games were mostly positive.