High-fidelity simulation has become a growing educational modality among institutions of higher learning ever since the Institute of Medicine recommended that it be used to improve patient safety in 2000. However, there is limited research on the effect of high-fidelity simulation on psychomotor clinical performance improvement of undergraduate nursing students being evaluated by experts using reliable and valid appraisal instruments. The purpose of this integrative review and meta-analysis is to explore what researchers have established about the impact of high-fidelity simulation on improving the psychomotor clinical performance of undergraduate nursing students. Only eight of the 1120 references met inclusion criteria. A meta-analysis using Hedges' g to compute the effect size and direction of impact yielded a range of -0.26 to +3.39. A positive effect was shown in seven of eight studies; however, there were five different research designs and six unique appraisal instruments used among these studies. More research is necessary to determine if high-fidelity simulation improves psychomotor clinical performance in undergraduate nursing students. Nursing programs from multiple sites having a standardized curriculum and using the same appraisal instruments with established reliability and validity are ideal for this work.

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Cigarette smoking continues to be the leading preventable cause of death in the United States. Nurse practitioners play an important role in implementing effective smoking cessation treatments and educating patients about the associated risks of smoking.

As nurse educators, it is necessary to make the connection between nursing theory and nursing practice. By implementing a new teaching strategy in a nursing research course, faculty researchers were able to accomplish 3 goals: (1) get students excited about the research process and view its relevance to nursing practice; (2) understand how all nursing and medical interventions begin with research; and (3) enlist student help on a faculty-sponsored research project. The authors discuss the project and its outcomes.