Background: Workplace violence is an undesired phenomenon affecting nurses and nursing students. Nursing simulations allow nursing students to learn and practice skills in an innovative controlled setting. A simulated scenario using a standardized patient (SP) behaving as an agitated psychiatric patient was developed for second semester undergraduate nursing students enrolled in a psychiatric nursing course. Providing appropriate training to nursing students to manage incidents of workplace violence is imperative for their safety in psychiatric nursing clinical rotations. A mental health nursing simulation focusing on workplace violence employing a SP can provide the nursing students the opportunity to build knowledge and skills to be applied in their psychiatric clinical settings.
Theoretical Framework: The theoretical framework that guided this instructional strategy was composed of social learning theory and experiential theory.
Objectives: The workplace violence nursing simulation (WVNS) was developed for nursing students. The WVNS aims include to enhance the students’ confidence managing agitated patients, augment their knowledge about evidence-based interventions for de-escalating patients, promote their ability to assess signs of aggression displayed the SP, employ evidence-based interventions to manage an agitated patient, and evaluate the usefulness of the nursing simulation scenario with the SP
Design: Quasi-experimental and evaluative design with pre and post test surveys
Setting: The WVNS was conducted in the nursing department’s premises of a public university in San Francisco, California. The university's simulation laboratory and classrooms were employed.
Instructional Strategies: Face-to-face discussions, online presentation, one encounter with the SP, recording of the encounteres, debrieifng by the SP and the project leader.
Results: Quantitative data will be statistically analyzed to assess the WVNS aims. Themes will be identified from the qualitative data obtained.
Conclusions: The WVNS created an experiential learning environment and may enhance the nursing students’ confidence and knowledge prior to their psychiatric nursing clinical rotation. The evience-based internventions learned may help manage and prevent incidents of workplace violence in clinical settings.