Beschreibung:
<jats:sec><jats:title content-type="abstract-subheading">Purpose</jats:title><jats:p>The purpose of this research is to relate the characteristics transferred from teaching into simulation-based learning in nursing by highlighting how they are presented and, thus, focus on more assertive pedagogical actions in higher education.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title content-type="abstract-subheading">Design/methodology/approach</jats:title><jats:p>The research was performed in the Brazilian context through a survey, and the data were analyzed by the structural equation modeling.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title content-type="abstract-subheading">Findings</jats:title><jats:p>The results show meaningful relationships for the four factors that are impacted by simulation-based learning: clinical reasoning for decision-making, patient safety, self-confidence and knowledge.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title content-type="abstract-subheading">Practical implications</jats:title><jats:p>This research identified the importance of simulation as an alternative to improving the teaching–learning process, and it can contribute to structuring the nursing program curriculum and other training zones, by enabling the inclusion of new methodological modalities.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title content-type="abstract-subheading">Originality/value</jats:title><jats:p>The simulation strategy becomes a differential tool in the integration between theory and practice, especially in the nursing program, and promotes teamwork, leadership and communication, self-confidence, critical thinking, clinical reasoning, priority management, decision-taking and conflict management.</jats:p></jats:sec>