COVID–19 pandemic represents a challenge not only to frontline health professionals, who
introducing nursing services but also to nursing academics in nursing education. Clinical
simulation is a valuable tool for teaching and learning in nursing education especially in this
crisis. Aim: The study aimed to identify the perceived nursing students' satisfaction and selfconfidence
towards the elements of clinical simulation design and educational practice during
the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: A quantitative descriptive cross-sectional
design was utilized. The study was conducted at the nursing department, College of Applied
Medical Sciences affiliated to the University of Hafr Al-Batin. This study involved 118
nursing students who were enrolled in different levels of academic years. The questionnaire
involved three instruments; the Simulation Design Scale, Educational Practices Questionnaire,
and Student Satisfaction / Self- Confidence in Learning Scale. Results: The findings revealed
that around half of nursing students had a low level of satisfaction with simulation activity
and the highest percent of them had a high level of self-confidence for managing the
simulated situations. Conclusion & Recommendations: The study findings reflected that the
use of simulation in presence of design elements and educational practices' features is a
typical solution for clinical nursing education to promote students' satisfaction and selfconfidence
in learning. The study recommended incorporating virtual clinical simulation and
other adaptive digital learning methods as a teaching strategy in nursing curricula, as well as
encouragement the nursing colleges to allocate budget for purchasing equipment and high
fidelity patient simulation manikins