(116) Patient voices: Bringing simulated patients and experiential learning in the classroom

Abstract : Introduction
Student nurses learn by experiencing and demonstrating all facets of nursing care. Undergraduate nursing students must be exposed to unique learning situations to gain valuable knowledge. The purpose of this project was to describe a simulated teaching experience coupled with reflective practice.
Guiding framework
Kolb’s experiential learning cycle including the concrete experience, and a reflective observation allowed students to conceptualize and apply their observations to their clinical practice.
Description of project
Using vignettes from a patient voices project, faculty designed a medication teaching experience. Students were assigned to groups and given a patient story. Students designed an infographic about the patient’s new medications. The groups created a skit to demonstrate an education session with a patient and their family. Students completed the experience with a peer review and a self-reflection using Tanner’s Model of Debriefing.
Population/setting
Seventy-seven prelicensure nursing students in their second semester attended a simulation for a behavioral health didactic course. The students worked in communal spaces to build their projects before returning to class and presenting their skits.
Results
Skits were realistic, with students play-acting the roles of the nurse, patient, and patient support system. Using patient voices and skits created an opportunity for students to increase their understanding of medication side effects and what patients need to know to return home safely.
Conclusion
Using patient voices is a creative way to incorporate simulation into the classroom. Students verbalized understanding of how to teach patients about their medications and to provide written and spoken instructions.