Abstract:

INTRODUCTION: To determine nursing students’ opinions about using standardized patients and clinical skills trainers in their clinical skills training. METHODS: This is a quasi-experimental study. Eighty-seven first-year nursing students participated in this study. Students were randomly assigned to the control (n = 43) and experimental (n = 44) group. Students in the control group practiced arterial blood pressure measurement and subcutaneous injectionson on a partial task trainer, whereas students in the experimental group practiced on standardized patient/ hybrid simulation. Immediately after, clinical skills training students completed the Laboratory Training Evaluation Form. Descriptive statistics, a t-test were used to analyze the data. RESULTS: The initial clinical skills training with standardized patients made the students feel uncomfortable (p lt;0.001). However, the students who worked with standardized patients reported more positive opinions than the students who worked with the clinical skills trainers in invoking their interest and curiosity (p=0.009), affecting their learning of professional responsibilities (p=0.030) and contributing to clinical practice (p lt;0.001). CONCLUSION: The first clinical skills training with the standardized patients might make the students feel uncomfortable and unsafe. However, training with standardized patients invoked students’ interest and curiosity, had the potential of decreasing students’ anxiety, and made positive contributions to increase students’ self confidence and professional responsibilities. 

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