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Communication Simulation in Psychiatric Nursing Most people have heard of flight simulators for pilots, but there are many types of simulators used in career training. Many nursing students have used some type of simulator in learning technical skills and procedures. Kameg, Mitchell, Clochesy, Howard, and Suresky (2009) reviewed the use of human patient simulation in nursing education and look at how it could be applied to communication techniques used in psychiatric nursing. These authors took on two very broad topics and give readers a brief overview of both. The article (Kameg, K. , Mitchell, A. Clochesy, J. , Howard, V. , & Suresky, J. , 2009) lists some types of simulation being used in nursing as computer-aided instruction, role-playing, and standardized patient activities (p. 507). The authors noticed a gap in research and literature in measuring effectiveness of human patient simulation (HPS). One study they reviewed indicated that nursing students felt more confident when the instructor use role-play techniques in learning communication skills. A second study revealed the students felt confident when they interacted with a standardized patient while being video-taped.
The students later reviewed the tapes and noticed many errors in their communication strategies. The other studies focused on other nursing skills acquired through simulation. They concluded that more research is needed in this area. It would be of great value if the authors could have drawn a connection between the use of simulated communication practice and effective therapeutic communication used with psychiatric patients. One has to believe that the more practice a nurse has with these skills, the better the nurse will be in the actual setting.
This was a really broad study because they touched on all types of simulation used in nursing education and communication in psychiatric nursing. The topic of therapeutic communications in psychiatric nursing alone is a subject that requires more than a few paragraphs in a journal article. I hope researchers see the need for additional studies on this topic and agree to take the challenge. References Kameg, K. , Mitchell, A. , Clochesy, J. , Howard, V. , & Suresky, J. (2009). Communication and human patient simulation in psychiatric nursing. Issues in Mental Health Nursing, 30(8), 503-508. doi:10. 1080/01612840802601366