Building therapeutic connections with the acutely ill through standardised patient simulation in nurse education an...

Phenomenological empathy and sense of coherence are two researched communication approaches used to improve therapeutic connections with patients in a variety of nurse related settings. The aim of this study is to evaluate students' feedback concerning how this event has enabled that understanding, development and refinement of skill-sets in PE and SoC when managing the acutely ill during simulation.

114 third year bachelor degree-nursing students were given the opportunity to complete an evaluation, developed for the specific purpose of this study. The evaluation contained six closed questions on a four point Likert-scale and three open questions, handed out upon completion of the standardised patient simulation of the acutely ill. Comments written in response to the open questions were analysed using manifest content analysis and closed questions using SPSS to produce descriptive frequencies.

100 students completed the evaluation. Student nurses', regardless of previous experience or age, indicated the need for more education and practice in phenomenological empathy and sense of coherence to enhance their ability to build therapeutic connections with the acutely ill.

Teaching phenomenological empathy and sense of coherence, as an integral part of standardised patient simulation is necessary to motivate student nurses ability to build therapeutic relationships with the acutely ill to enhance person centred care.