Simulation Facilitator Competency: Validity and Reliability of a Self-Assessment Tool

Abstract

The use of simulation as a teaching and learning strategy continues to grow in nursing education. Standards of Best Practice, certification criteria, and simulation theory support the notion that facilitation of simulation requires a specialized skill set that differs from traditional classroom and clinical teaching. The discipline of nursing has already established valid and reliable tools for teachers within the classroom and clinical environments to complete self- and/or peer evaluation to inform teaching effectiveness. The National League for Nursing/Kellgren Simulation Facilitator (NLN/KSF) tool fills a gap in the literature by providing a valid and reliable tool to self-assess comprehensive facilitator skills in nursing education. The results of psychometric testing demonstrate reliability and validity of the NLN/KSF. (Scale content validity index = 0.95, known groups validity significance = .000 [p-value ≤ 0.05], Cronbach’s alpha ranges from 0.720 – 0.870, test retest reliability = 0.84 [p-value ≤ 0.05]). The NLN/KSF has implications for use within education, practice, and policy, as well as potential implications within the larger simulation community.