Simulation: An active learning pedagogy for an undergraduate nursing leadership course.

BACKGROUND: Interpretive pedagogy with simulation encourages students to consider multiple perspectives contextually leading students to think deeper in a shared learning environment. Problem: Clinical sites were lacking in a senior nursing leadership and management course and necessitated the adaptation of traditional clinical teaching methodologies. Approach: Low‐fidelity simulation was used as an active learning strategy to fulfill clinical hours. Outcomes: Comparing student groups' pretest mean scores were not significant (p =.610; 95% confidence interval [CI] [−0.95, 0.12]). Comparatively, the student groups' posttest scores ranging between 87% and 90%, respectively, were also not statistical significance (p =.136, 95% CI [−0.95, 0.12]). CONCLUSION: Students were positive about their experience. They appreciated the opportunity to practice what they learned in the classroom in a safe environment. As a result, simulation in a senior nursing leadership course can be successfully used as an alternative to traditional clinical experiences and fulfill clinical hour requirements.