Paper
Sunday, November 4, 2007
287
Evaluation of Students' Skills in Conducting a Health History Interview Using Standardized Patient Experiences: A Barometer for Teaching Effectiveness, Curriculum, and Student Success
Karen A. Karlowicz, EdD, RN, Amy Lee, RN, MSN, CCRN, and Phyllis Barham, RN, MS. School of Nursing, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA, USA
| Learning Objective #1: Identify factors that impact the effectiveness of health assessment instruction. |
| Learning Objective #2: Determine the value of using standardized patient and virtual experiences to help teach and evaluate students’ skills to conduct a nursing health history. |
A standardized patient experience has been used since 2003 to evaluate students’ skills in conducting a health history interview as part of a health assessment course. A detailed case study scenario, in which the chief complaint is a “headache,” has served as the focus of the experience. Students participating in the experience in 2003 and 2004 received classroom instruction on health history interviews and practiced interviewing with peer partners prior to the standardized patient experience. Students in the 2005 and 2006 groups had additional prior interview training through the use of virtual patient scenarios that focused on the history of present illness. Percentage scores in 2004, 2005 and 2006 for health history case items addressed during students’ interviews with standardized patients, as well as for specific interviewer behaviors that were judged, were higher than those reported in 2003. Factors that appear to influence students’ performance during the health history interview with the standardized patients include: the timing of the standardized patient experience within the course schedule; the use of virtual patient scenarios as an additional learning activity; the level of significance students attribute to the standardized patient experience; and years of teaching experience among health assessment course faculty (full-time vs. adjunct faculty). Using standardized patient experiences has proved valuable in judging students' communication skills in the process of conducting a nursing health history interview, while also providing valuable insight into the strengths and limitations of a health assessment course. The experience also appears to be an indicator of students that are less likely to successfully complete the nursing program.