Virtual Simulation in Undergraduate Nursing Education: Effects on Students' Correct Recognition of and Causative Beliefs About Mental Disorders.

Virtual simulation as an emerging nursing pedagogy can facilitate optimal learning through the use of experiential learning and technology. The purpose of this prospective cohort study was to assess the long-term effects of virtual simulation on undergraduate nursing students' recognition of and causative beliefs about depression and schizophrenia. Students' responses from the simulation cohort (n = 149) and the nonsimulation cohort (n = 150) at a school of nursing in the United States were compared. While students' responses were fairly similar between the two cohorts, students who received virtual simulations more often rated character weakness as an unlikely cause for schizophrenia than those who did not receive virtual simulations. The major difference supports the use of virtual simulation in influencing positive changes in nursing students' perceptions and attitudes toward mental illness.