Using simulated patients as a learning strategy to support undergraduate nurses to develop patient-teaching skills

Area of Science:

• Nursing Education
• Healthcare Simulation
• Patient Self-Management

Background:

• Growing prevalence of chronic conditions necessitates enhanced nurse-led patient education.
• Nurses often report insufficient undergraduate training for effective patient teaching.
• Developing patient self-management strategies is crucial for long-term care.

Purpose of the Study:

• To formatively evaluate a simulated role-play scenario for nursing students.
• To enhance the patient-teaching skills of third-year nursing students.
• To assess the effectiveness of simulation in preparing nurses for patient education.

Main Methods:

• Sequential use of high-fidelity and mid-fidelity simulation scenarios.
• Twenty third-year nursing students participated in the study.
• Formative evaluation using a five-item pro forma (four open, one closed question).

Main Results:

• Students perceived simulated patient role-play as a valuable learning method.
• Learned patient-teaching skills were deemed transferable to clinical practice.
• Simulation effectively prepared students for authentic patient interactions.

Conclusions:

• Simulated patient interactions are effective for practicing patient-teaching skills.
• This approach helps replicate real-world verbal and practical patient encounters.
• Simulation is a beneficial tool for nursing education in patient teaching.