Using standardized patient with immediate feedback and group discussion to teach interpersonal and communication skills to advanced practice nursing students

SummaryBackgroundInterpersonal and communication skills (IPCS) are essential for advanced practice nursing (APN) in our increasingly complex healthcare system. The Standardized Patient (SP) is a promising innovative pedagogy in medical and healthcare education; however, its effectiveness for teaching IPCS to graduate nursing students remains unclear.ObjectivesWe examined the effectiveness of using SP with SP feedback and group discussion to teach IPCS in graduate nursing education.DesignRandomized-controlled study.ParticipantsFirst-year APN students in Taiwan.MethodsParticipants were randomly assigned to the experimental (SP assessments with SP feedback and group discussion) or control (SP assessments only) group. There were two outcome indicators: IPCS and student learning satisfaction (SLS). The IPCS were assessed before and after the study in interviews with the SPs. SLS was measured when the study ended.ResultsAll participants expressed high SLS (94.44%) and showed significant (p ≤ 0.025) improvements on IPCS total scores, interviewing, and counseling. However, there were no significant differences between groups. Qualitative feedback from encounters with SPs is described.ConclusionsUsing SPs to teach IPCS to APN students produced a high SLS. The students learned and significantly improved their IPCS by interviewing SPs, but future studies are needed to confirm the effectiveness of SP feedback and group discussions.