The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of a simulation-based education program designed based on cognitive load theory on the development of medication administration competency of nursing students.

The study was designed according to a pre-post test control group randomized controlled experimental design. During the research procedure, the medication administration competency training program will be implemented to the groups by using two different methods. In the training program will be applied to the experiment group will designed to be considered of the intrinsic, extraneous, and germane loads described in Cognitive Load Theory.

For randomization, a list of students who will be agreed to participate in the study, will be created and assigned serial numbers by a faculty other than researcher. The control and experiment groups will be formed by randomly assigning these serial numbers using a computer program (www.random.org). To prevent repeated student evaluations and potential bias, students will be tracked using their serial numbers during the data collection process.

The control group will receive the medication administration competency training program using the conventional education method.

A cognitive load theory-based medication administration competency training program will be applied to the experiment group of students. The cognitive load theory explains the amount of mental effort that is required to perform mental processes and is loaded onto memory resources. This theory helps to make learning more effective by reducing students' cognitive load, taking into account factors such as the complexity of learning materials and their presentation format. In this context, the content structuring of the training program will be determined according to the students' knowledge levels and cognitive loads that will be identified before the training program. The training program consists of theoretical education, skill training, medication administration competency virtual simulations, and scenario applications. The students' knowledge levels, cognitive loads, and medication administration competency self-assessments will be evaluated before and after the theoretical education. Skill levels will be evaluated by using structured observation tools during the skill training, and cognitive loads and clinical decision-making competency levels will be evaluated at the end of the scenario.

In data collection:

• To evaluate the knowledge levels of the control and experiment group students regarding medication administration before and after the training, the Medication Administration Knowledge Test will be used.
• To assess the psychomotor skills of students regarding medication administration, Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) checklists for medication dosage calculation and administration via intramuscular, subcutaneous, and intravenous routes will be used.
• The Medication Administration Competence Self-Assessment Form will be applied to students to assess herself on medication administration competence and its subcomponents.
• The Cognitive Load Scale will be used to determine how much mental effort the student exerts while performing tasks related to medication administration.
• The Simulation Self-Reported Cognitive Load Measurement Tool will be used to determine the cognitive, extraneous, and germane loads of the control and experiment group students after the scenario application.

Inclusion Criteria:

• To be over 18 years old,
• Minimum 18 years old,
• To be a third or fourth-year nursing undergraduate student,
• To volunteer to participate in the research.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Inability to complete any stage of the study,
• Failure to complete data collection forms.