Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of simulation-based emergency management education on knowledge and clinical performance ability among nurses. Methods: This study used a nonequivalent control group pre and post-experiment design. Forty nurses were randomly assigned to either the simulation-based education group or the lecturebased education group. Subjects in experimental group participated in the respiratory distress scenario simulation followed by debriefing and subjects in control group received a 20-minute lecture related adult respiratory distress management provided by education nurse. Knowledge and clinical performance ability of nurses were measured using a questionnaire developed for this study. Results: There were no significant differences in two groups in terms of knowledge and clinical performance ability. However, both groups showed a significant increase in clinical performance ability after each educations provided (p<.001, p<.001, respectively). Conclusion: This study showed that both simulation-based education and lecture-based education are useful for nurses to improve clinical performance ability regarding respiratory distress emergency situation management.