Abstract
Nursing students commonly report feeling a lack of confidence and self-efficacy with therapeutic communication during their clinical rotations in mental health facilities. When students lack confidence with communication, patient safety and the development of clinical judgment are negatively impacted. This quality improvement (QI) project sought to answer the question: In associate degree nursing (ADN) students (P), how does participation in simulation utilizing standardized patients (I) compared to no simulation program (C) affect student self- efficacy and confidence with therapeutic communication (O)? Nursing students in their last semester of an ADN program participated in two mental health simulation scenarios using standardized patients. Students were given surveys measuring self-efficacy and confidence both pre- and post-simulation. The mean self-efficacy score was increased by 20 points, and the mean confidence score was increased by 10 points after students participated in the simulations. Additionally, 61% of students reported feeling confident with therapeutic communication in their clinical reflection journals during their inpatient mental health clinical rotation. This QI project demonstrated that simulation can assist students to improve their self-efficacy and confidence with therapeutic communication and is a feasible option for most nursing programs to implement.
Date of publication
Spring 2026
Document Type
DNP Scholarly Project
Language
english
Persistent identifier
http://hdl.handle.net/10950/5036
Committee members
Angie McInnis, DNP, APRN, ENP, FNP-BC, PMHNP-BC
Degree
Doctor of Nursing Practice
Recommended Citation
Murphy, Amber, "DNP Final Report: Improving Self-Efficacy and Confidence with Therapeutic Communication Using Standardized Patient Simulation" (2026). DNP Final Reports. Paper 79.
http://hdl.handle.net/10950/5036