Background Measuring competencies in nursing is critical to ensure safe and effective care of patients. Usually, new nurses struggle to cope with the demands of new roles and face difficulties in completing the required competencies on time. Being a clinical resource nurse based in the clinical areas and responsible for new nurses, I have observed that there is a gap in this area which may impact on patient safety. I work as a clinical resource nurse in Prince Mohammed Bin Abdulaziz Hospital in Madinah (PMBAH), Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The focus of this paper is to assess the knowledge and confidence of newly hired nurses in PMBAH. Currently, new nurses are given 5 days of orientation in class and are then sent to clinical areas to start working under a senior nurse. The aim of this study was to assess the confidence and knowledge of new nurses hired by PMBAH.

Methods Simulation methodology was used to train new nurses in PMBAH. A 2-day training schedule was arranged with 2 hours for each competency session, with eight sessions in total. Each session included a short briefing about the scenario and introductory video followed by a demonstration by the simulation facilitator. The new nurse was then allowed to run the scenario with no interruption, followed by individual briefing directly to consolidate and transform the nurse’s experience. Nurses were allowed to express their feelings in their own words. Pre and post self-assessment of participants’ knowledge and confidence were later assessed.

Results There was a big difference in the pre- and post-assessment results; the majority of the nurses have shown increased knowledge and confidence after going through simulation sessions.

Conclusion We have identified that simulation positively impacts nurses’ learning experiences by replicating the bedside setting in a mistake-free environment. Therefore, simulation sessions for new nurses are very helpful to raise knowledge, confidence, and the ultimate safe delivery of patient care. We can claim that simulation is an up-to-date and innovative learning strategy, especially when addressing direct patient care aspects including nursing skills and procedures. With the current increase in medicolegal cases, we can conclude that simulation is both a safer and economically viable way of training nurses. Increased confidence and knowledge using simulation during orientation has been shown to reduce stress levels in clinical areas.