Standardized Patients Portraying Parents in Pediatric End-of-Life Simulation

Teaching nursing students how to support families during the death of their child is an important aspect of pediatric nursing. Faculty created a novel end-of-life simulation where standardized patients portrayed an infant's parents. The purpose of this article is to describe how the characters were created, how standardized patients were trained, and the importance of psychosocial care with standardized patients. Anecdotally, students and faculty have noted how standardized patients improved the fidelity of the simulation. Standardized patients allowed students to practice communication skills during simulations, which may augment the critical thinking and psychomotor skills often used in simulation.