THE EFFECT OF STANDARD PATIENT AND WEB-BASED SIMULATION ON FALL KNOWLEDGE AND ATTITUDES AMONG NURSING STUDENTS

The most fundamental principle of any healthcare service is "First, do no harm." No one should be harmed in healthcare services. Falls are the most frequently reported and preventable incident among all safety incidents in the hospital environment. However, falls are the most frequently reported incident among all safety incidents. Patient falls are the most common adverse events in hospitals. Patient falls in hospitals cause physiological and psychological harm to patients, affect the timeliness, effectiveness, and efficiency of care, and lead to increases in hospital costs and length of stay. Therefore, preventing falls, which have serious consequences, is of vital importance in terms of patient safety and healthcare quality. Nurses are a group that can sensitively identify and manage issues related to patient safety. Therefore, it is important to identify and reduce the underlying risk factors for falls in patients and to provide appropriate nursing interventions to prevent secondary injuries in patients who have fallen.

Simulation is an important part of nursing education because it improves patient care and ensures patient safety. Simulation-based learning provides students with realistic clinical situations, allowing them to practice clinical skills in a safe environment. This enables students to develop their clinical skills, communication, decision-making, and self-efficacy in a risk-free, safe, and structured environment, representing a contemporary teaching approach.

Teaching safe patient care during nursing students' education is one of the most fundamental elements of nursing education. Inadequate nursing knowledge and attitudes increase the risk of falls among patients receiving care. Students with insufficient clinical experience are at high risk of making undesirable errors in patient care. It is important to increase nursing students' knowledge and attitudes regarding falls during their education.

The standard patient and web-based simulation application offers the closest experience to real clinical situations, providing students with significant potential to become aware of falls they may encounter in practice and prevent potential errors. The increasing importance given to patient safety due to the rising number of fall cases supports the necessity of this research. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of standard patient and web-based simulation methods on nursing students' knowledge and attitudes regarding falls.