Role-Play versus Standardised Patient Simulation for Teaching Interprofessional Communication in Care of the Elderly for Nursing Students

• Published in: Healthcare (Basel) 2021-12, Vol.10 (1), p.46
• Main Authors: Cortés-Rodríguez, Alda Elena, Roman, Pablo, López-Rodríguez, María Mar, Fernández-Medina, Isabel María, Fernández-Sola, Cayetano, Hernández-Padilla, José Manuel
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Nurses; Older people; Patient safety; Teaching methods; Workshops
• ISSN: 2227-9032; 2227-9032
• DOI: 10.3390/healthcare10010046

This study aims to describe and compare the effects of standardised patient simulation and role-play in the acquisition and retention of interprofessional communication in elderly care competence amongst nursing students. In this controlled clustered randomised trial, 121 nursing students attended a workshop on interprofessional communication in elderly care using role-play or standardised patient simulation. The study was conducted between September 2017 and February 2018. Participants' knowledge, self-efficacy and communication skills were assessed using a simulated scenario at pre-test, post-test and 6-week follow-up points. Between-subject and within-subject differences were measured using counts and proportions of participants who achieved competence. Regardless of the strategy applied, a significant improvement in knowledge, skills, self-efficacy and overall interprofessional communication competence was found between pre-test and post-test. Moreover, there were significant differences between pre-test and follow-up for all the studied variables, but no differences were found between post-test and follow-up. Lastly, when comparing the success rates of both strategies, no significant differences were observed ( > 0.05). In conclusion, standardised patient simulation and role-play have been shown to promote an improvement on knowledge, self-efficacy and interprofessional communication skills in nursing students, although it is not possible to state which strategy is the most adequate for teaching this competency.