ArticleJournal of the American Psychiatric Nurses Association
Nursing Students' Perceptions of Small-Group Standardized Patient Simulations to Enhance Therapeutic Communication Skills.
Article in Journal of the American Psychiatric Nurses Association. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveTherapeutic communication is essential to nursing practice, yet many pre-licensure nursing students report discomfort applying these skills in clinical settings. Standardized patient (SP) simulation offers a controlled environment for practicing communication, yet qualitative research describing students' perceptions of these experiences remains limited. This study explored undergraduate nursing students' perspectives on small-group, communication-focused SP simulations within a psychiatric-mental health nursing course.
methodsAs part of a larger program evaluation, six in-person focus groups were conducted with 47 Bachelor of Science in Nursing students following participation in two series of SP simulations across nine scenarios. Discussions were audio-recorded, transcribed, and analyzed using inductive thematic content analysis. An audit trail and team debriefing supported rigor and consistency.
resultsThree themes emerged. First, students reported that SP simulations increased their comfort and confidence in therapeutic communication, providing a safe space to practice navigating emotionally charged conversations and building rapport. Second, the simulations evoked ambiguity regarding the psychiatric-mental health nurse's role, as students struggled to differentiate therapeutic communication from psychotherapy and acknowledged real-world time constraints that limit such interactions. Third, students identified high-quality, instructive feedback, particularly during debriefing, as essential to learning and expressed a desire for more structured guidance from SPs and faculty.
conclusionsCommunication-focused SP simulations effectively enhance therapeutic communication skills among pre-licensure nursing students. To optimize learning, faculty should intentionally clarify nursing role boundaries and strengthen debriefing structures. Findings highlight the importance of targeted feedback and instructional support in maximizing the educational value of SP-based simulation.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.