Contributions of Clinical Simulation to Group Cohesion: A Quasi-Experimental Study

(1) Background: The increasing complexity of today's healthcare system requires the formation of highly cohesive work teams that guarantee safe and high-quality care. Clinical simulation has become established as a pedagogical strategy capable of promoting the collaborative skills of teams of students and healthcare professionals. The objective of this study was to analyze the influence of learning through clinical simulation on promoting group cohesion in nursing student teams; (2) Methods: A quasi-experimental study with a pre-post design without a control group was conducted with final-year nursing students using the short Spanish version of the Group Environment Questionnaire, validated for nursing students. This questionnaire was completed twice by the participating students, before and after clinical simulation practices; (3) Results: Clinical simulation sessions significantly increased group cohesion in most items and in all dimensions with a large effect size greater than 0.5. The dimension Group Integration-Task (GI-T) showed the greatest improvement after clinical simulation practices; (4) Conclusions: Clinical simulation has significantly increased all dimensions of group cohesion among nursing students. Clinical simulation primarily enhances collaboration and commitment among nursing students to achieve common goals. Due to its impact on group cohesion, clinical simulation should be used systematically to improve the efficiency and quality of student and healthcare professional teams.