Near-Peer Led Simulation in Paediatric Nursing Education: Pedagogical Promise and Performative Pressures

Abstract

Near-peer led simulation (NPLS) is gaining attention as a way to enhance experiential learning in pre-registration nursing programmes, particularly in areas where placement capacity is constrained and emotional preparedness is essential. Paediatric nursing education faces persistent pressures relating to clinical exposure, rising patient acuity, and the relational and affective complexity of children’s care. At the same time, higher education institutions operate within audit-driven environments where teaching is increasingly shaped by recruitment, satisfaction and employability metrics. These pressures create a tension between supporting emotionally grounded, psychologically safe learning and meeting regulatory and institutional performance demands.

This paper explores these tensions by examining the opportunities and challenges of NPLS through Stephen Ball’s concepts of performativity and neoliberalism “out there/in here.” Drawing on the existing literature, the paper outlines the reported benefits of NPLS, including increased confidence, stronger reflective practice, and a more approachable learning climate. It also highlights recurring challenges such as variable facilitator preparation, emotional labour, psychological safety, and the need for clear role boundaries. The analysis then considers how these pedagogical benefits and risks are shaped by the wider higher education environment, where what is most valued is often what can be easily measured.

Using Ball’s framework, the paper argues that while NPLS has significant pedagogical promise, its sustainability depends on how institutions recognise and resource the relational, emotional and supervisory labour it demands. In many workload and quality systems, this labour remains largely invisible. The conclusion identifies two areas for future inquiry: first, empirical research that examines how universities negotiate the competing demands of emotional, critical and performative priorities when implementing NPLS, and second, a small design-focused pilot that tests whether NPLS can be supported in ways that protect psychological safety while meeting institutional requirements. Together, these directions offer a balanced way to develop NPLS as both a pedagogically valuable and institutionally viable approach within contemporary higher education.