Nursing students satisfaction and self-confidence with standardized patient palliative care simulation focusing on difficult conversations

The objective of this research was to assess 3rd year undergraduate nursing students' levels of satisfaction and self-confidence with palliative and end-of-life care simulations focusing on difficult conversations, as measured by the Student Satisfaction and Self-Confidence in Learning Scale (SSSCLS) and the Simulation Design Scale (SDS).METHODS: A descriptive post-intervention study. Four palliative care simulation days, consisting of 2 clinical scenarios, were conducted over 4 weeks. The first simulation was an outpatient palliative care clinic scenario, and the second was an inpatient hospital scenario. Nursing students enrolled in a 3rd year nursing palliative care elective (n = 51) at an Australian university were invited to participate. Students who attended simulation days were eligible to participate (n = 31). Immediately post-simulation, students were invited to complete the SSSCLS and the SDS. Fifty-seven surveys were completed (simulation 1, n = 28; simulation 2, n = 29). The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics.RESULTS: Results showed that students had high levels of self-confidence in developing palliative care and communication skills after both simulation experiences and high levels of satisfaction with the SP simulations.SIGNIFICANCE OF RESULTS: The lack of published literature on palliative care and end-of-life SP simulation highlights the need to collect further evidence to support this as an innovative approach to teaching palliative care. SP pal...
Source: Palliative and Supportive Care - Category: Palliative Care Authors: Source Type: research