Introduction: clinical simulation to teach expertise to nursing students plays an important role in nursing schools (IFSI). Context: as recommended in the training frame of reference, students must develop skills from real-life situations. Objective: The objective of this study was to determine the importance of role play simulation of “problematic situations” to boost the process of appropriation of nursing science knowledge and initiate the task of conceptualization among first year students when putting up a drip. Method: this contextual research used qualitative data collected from students who answered three open post-simulation questions in order to communicate how they felt when faced with this learning technique. This data was compared with that of two executive tutors who used an observation grid during the simulation. Results: the students’ responses have shown that this learning technique offered students the possibility to develop dexterity in problem solving skills, to construct new knowledge, and to memorize knowledge gained from university science and nursing care. The executive tutors have observed the construction of a meta-cognitive attitude suited to the conceptualization of action. Conclusion: a change in the students’ relationship with knowledge took place, with the executive tutors noting that students were happy to learn different types of knowledge.