title: Students' satisfaction with simulated clinical experiences: validation of an assessment scale.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Validate an assessment instrument of nursing students' satisfaction with simulated clinical experiences.
  
  
  METHODS
  A 17-item scale was applied to students from the Teaching Diploma Program in Nursing, after a set of simulated clinical experiences. Factorial analysis with orthogonal varimax rotation was used, and the internal consistency was estimated to determine the validity of the scale.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In a sample of 181 students, we found a high correlation between practically all items and the total scale, with an Alpha coefficient of 0.914. The scale items were divided in three factors: practical dimension, realism dimension and cognitive dimension, with good internal consistency coefficients of 0.89; 0.88 and 0.73, respectively.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The scale complies with the validity requisites, revealing a high potential for use in research.
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas Abel Salazar, Universidade do Porto, Coimbra, Portugal.
authors.forename: Rui Carlos Negrão
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Baptista
authors.affiliation: Escola Superior de Enfermagem de Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal.
authors.forename: José Carlos Amado
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Martins
authors.affiliation: Faculdade de Psicologia e de Ciências da Educação, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal.
authors.forename: Maria Fátima Carneiro Ribeiro
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Pereira
authors.affiliation: Escola de Enfermagem de Ribeirão Preto, Universidade de São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Alessandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mazzo
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D004506:Education, Nursing / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010549:Personal Satisfaction; D000066908:Simulation Training; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult